HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND 

m  IN  THE  SEVENTIES   ® 


RICHARD  H.DANA 


L. 


H  "^ 


HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 


The  Young  American 


HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND 
^     IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

The  Diary  of  a  Young  American 
1875-1876 


BY 
RICHARD  HENRY  DANA 


JVith  Illustrations 


BOSTON  AND-  NEW  YORK 

HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  COMPANY 

1921 


COPYRIGHT,  1921,   BY  RICHARD  H.  DANA 
ALL  RIGHTS   RESERVED 


TO 

MY  MANY  FRIENDS 

IN  ENGLAND 


CONTENTS 

I.  First  Days  in  London  1 

II.  Second  Week  in  London  28 

III.  The  Last  of  my  First  London  Season  48 

IV.  Althorp  House:  Earl  Spencer's  via  Warwick 

and  Birmingham  63 

V.  Lord  Young's  via  York  and  Edinburgh  82 

VI.  RossiE  Priory:  Lord  Kinnaird's  88 

VII.  Inverary   Castle:    The   Duke   of    Argyll's 

(Princess  Louise)  via  the  Trossachs  100 

VIII.  Lord  Coleridge's  121 

IX.  Lord  Tenterden's  135 

X.  HuRSLEY  Park:  Sir  William  Heathcote's  and 

General  Review  146 

XI.  Paris  Salons,  and  English  Embassy  153 

XII.  French  Assembly  and  Last  Days  in  Paris         185 

XIII.  Athens   by   way   of  the   Mediterranean  — 

British  Ambassador  —  The  Royal  Ball  and 
Scaling  the  Acropolis  199 

XIV.  Egypt  —  The  English  Embassy  —  General-in- 

Chief  —  Egyptian  Injustice  222 


viii  CONTENTS 

XV.  Rome  (via  Naples)  — American  and  English 

Ambassadors  237 

XVI.  England  again  via  Turin  and  Paris  247 

XVII.  Oxford  and  Cambridge  257 

XVIII.  First  of  London  revisited  294 

XIX.  Last  of  London  revisited  326 

Epilogue  362 

Index  369 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

The  Young  Ameeican  "Photogravure  frontispiece 

Lord  Frederick  Cavendish  12 

From  an  engraving 

Lord  Tenterden  18 

Sir  William  Vernon  Harcourt  30 

Earl  Russell  (formerly  Lord  John  Russell)  34 

From  a  drawing  by  G.  F.  Watts 

Countess  Russell  38 

Althorp  House:  Earl  Spencer's  70 

From  a  sketch  by  the  author 

Edinburgh  82 

From  a  sketch  by  the  author 

RossiE  Priory:  Lord  Kinnaird's  88 

Inverary  Castle,  Seat  of  the  Duke  of  Argyll  102 

From  an  old  engraving 

Princess  Louise  106 

The  Duke  of  Argyll  110 

From  an  engraving 

The  Armory,  or  Front  Hall,  Inverary  Castle  120 

Lord  Coleridge  at  56  124 

From  a  crayon  by  Lady  Coleridge,  1878.  Reproduced  from  a 
photogravure  in  Ernest  Hartley  Coleridge's  Life  and  Corre- 
spondence of  John  Duke  Coleridge  (New  York:  D.  Apple  ton 
&Co.) 

Sir  John  Taylor  Coleridge  132 

From  a  painting  by  Mrs.  Carpenter  in  the  Hall  of  Eton  College. 
Reproduced  from  Life  and  Correspondence  of  John  Duke 
Coleridge 


X  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Castle  of  Rocks,  Lynton  136 

Keble's  Chukch  and  Vicarage  at  Hursley  148 

Queen  Olga  of  Greece  and  Princess  Marie  216 

Dean  Stanley  ^16 

Rt.-Hon.  Sir  Robert  Phillimore  326 
From  a  painting 

Rt.-Hon.  William  E.  Gladstone  340 


HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 


NOTE 

If  this  account  of  friendly  kindness  by  eminent  per- 
sons in  Great  Britain  to  a  young  man  from  America 
should  help  to  bring  those  two  countries  into  closer 
union  and  confidence,  and  at  the  same  time  entertain 
the  reader,  this  book  will  have  accomplished  the  pur- 
poses for  which  it  is  published. 


HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND 
IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

CHAPTER  I 
FIRST  DAYS  IN  LONDON 

London,  Wednesday,  July  14,  1875 
Rain! 

Arranged  letters  of  introduction  and  soon  became  as 
familiar  with  the  immediate  vicinity  as  if  I  had  been 
here  for  weeks. 

Thursday,  July  15 

Rain  again.  A  quick  response  to  my  letters  began  this 

afternoon. 

As  I  found  it  would  take  me  ten  hours  or  more  to 
deliver  all  my  letters  of  introduction,  I  had  given  the 
more  distant  ones  to  be  carried  by  messenger  with  my 
calling  cards  and  had  delivered  only  the  nearer  ones 
personally.  It  is  customary  in  England  to  leave  a  letter 
of  introduction  and  one's  card  with  an  address  on  it, 
without  asking  to  see  the  person  to  whom  one  is  intro- 
duced. This  allows  him  to  read  the  letter  more  at  leisure 
and  arrange  for  some  future  meeting,  and,  especially  in 
the  crowded  life  of  London,  works  far  better  and  more 
satisfactorily  than  trying  to  see  strangers  at  the  first 
call. 

Lodgings  I  had  secured  at  Mrs.  Brooks's,  115  Jermyn 
Street,  where  my  parents  had  been  before.  When  I  got 
back  to  my  room  late  in  the  afternoon,  I  found  two 


2        HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

notes  awaiting  me:  one  from  Sir  Robert  Phillimore,  my 
father's  friend,  and  the  other  from  Robert  Ferguson, 
Esq.,  M.P.,  Professor  Longfellow's,  both  for  engage- 
ments the  next  day,  and  on  that  next  day,  by  the  morn- 
ing's post,  came  another  invitation  from  Sir  John  Kenna- 
way,  Bart.,  for  that  same  evening.  It  was  quite  thrilling 
to  get  three  such  rapid  responses  to  the  letters  I  had 
only  delivered  in  the  late  forenoon  and  early  afternoon. 

I  had  come  abroad  from  Boston  in  July,  1875,  after 
graduation  at  Harvard  and  at  the  end  of  my  first  year 
in  the  Law  School,  for  a  fifteen-months'  trip,  with  a 
very  little  baggage  containing  a  few  old  clothes  and 
some  twenty  or  more  letters  of  introduction,  nearly  all 
from  my  father.  Three  were  from  Henry  W.  Longfellow 
and  one  from  James  Russell  Lowell.  All  these  were  to 
Englishmen,  excepting  two  of  Longfellow's  to  members 
of  the  Academy  in  Paris  and  two  from  my  father  to 
other  distinguished  Frenchmen. 

Purchases  and  rush  orders  for  articles  all  the  way 
from  toothbrush  at  Front's,  whose  name  had  so  often 
been  in  my  mouth,  to  silk  hat  in  St.  James's  Street,  and 
dress  suit  at  Boutroy's,  Sackville  Street,  had  occupied 
much  of  the  few  previous  days;  but  the  invitations, 
coming  so  surprisingly  soon,  got  ahead  of  my  race  for 
clothing,  and  at  first  I  had  to  wear  some  of  my  old 
things. 

(I  wrote  journal  letters  almost  daily  to  my  father. 
These  he  preserved  for  me  and  they  form  the  basis  for 
the  above  entries  and  all  that  follow.) 

Before  delivering  my  letters  I  called  at  the  bank,  and 
out  came  one  of  the  directors,  the  Honorable  Arthur 
Kinnaird,  brother  of  the  present  Lord  Kinnaird  and  his 
heir  presumptive.  He  introduced  himself  as  one  of  my 
father's  friends  and  admirers.  He  was  very  obliging  and 


FIRST  ACQUAINTANCES  3 

offered  to  do  much  for  me  —  all  the  more  nice  as  I  had 
no  letter  of  introduction  to  him.  He  simply  saw  my 
name  on  the  letter  of  credit.  He  is  a  banker,  tall  and 
dark,  with  a  keen  eye  and  pleasant,  business-like, 
friendly  smile.  This  continuous  rain  would  be  dismal 
indeed  for  one  who  had  less  to  do  than  I  or  who  was  less 
delighted  with  being  in  dear  old  England. 

Friday y  July  16 
More  rain ! 

"But  when  we  crossed  the  Lombard  Plain 
Remember  what  a  plague  of  rain." 

Lunched  with  Mr.  Robert  Ferguson  at  the  dignified 
and  handsome  Devonshire  Club,  St.  James's  Street. 
He  made  arrangements  to  take  me  to  the  House  of 
Commons  on  Tuesday,  the  20th.  He  is  a  member  of 
Parliament  from  Carlisle.  We  had  a  most  excellent 
lunch  and  interesting  conversation.  He  is  a  diffident 
man,  rarely  makes  a  speech  in  Parliament,  I  was  told; 
stutters  a  good  deal,  and  fills  gaps  in  his  conversation 
with  "hems"  and  "hums"  uttered  through  closed  lips. 
He  is  extremely  well  informed,  has  written  a  book  on 
"Surnames  as  a  Science,"  and  has  led  in  many  good 
works  and  municipal  improvements  in  his  city,  and  yet 
is  modest  and  friendly  withal.  He  is  said  to  be  a  useful 
member  on  committees  and  is  valued  for  his  sound 
judgment.  He  is  a  moderate  Liberal  and  supporter  of 
Gladstone.*  He  talked  of  his  visit  in  Cambridge,  U.S.A., 
in  the  sixties  and  of  meeting  my  sister  Henrietta  as  a 
child  and  all  the  Longfellow  family. 

In  the  afternoon  went  to  the  Royal  Art  Exhibition. 
I  was  not  a  little  disappointed  in  it. 

At  eight  o'clock  dined  with  the  Right  Honorable 
Sir  Robert  Phillimore  and  his  two  daughters.   He  is  a 


4        HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

judge  of  the  High  Court  of  Admiralty  and  author  of  a 
voluminous  and  thorough  work  on  international  law, 
"Memoirs  of  George  Lord  Lyttelton,"  "Thoughts  on 
the  Law  of  Divorce,"  etc.  He  was  a  member  of  Parlia- 
ment for  several  years  and  held  many  important  posi- 
tions, such  as  that  of  the  Chancellor  of  the  Diocese  of 
Oxford.  He  is  sixty-five  years  of  age,  with  a  square  face, 
pleasing  mouth,  and  gray  hair.  Lady  Phillimore  was 
out  of  town.  Sir  Robert  was  most  kind  and  cordial. 
The  talk  ran  on  art,  London  life,  Boston,  and  my  father, 
for  whom  and  whose  writings,  both  on  law  and  travel, 
he  expressed  admiration. 

One  of  his  daughters  was  doing  bookbinding,  much 
in  vogue  in  London  society.  She  remarked  that,  as  it 
rained  on  St.  Swithun's  day,  the  15th,  it  would  be  a  wet 
season,  according  to  an  old  superstition.  About  ten 
o'clock  they  took  me  to  a  little  party  at  Lady  Frederick 
Cavendish's  on  Carlton  House  Terrace  at  her  request. 
Lord  Frederick  Cavendish  is  a  younger  son  of  the  pres- 
ent Duke  of  Devonshire  and  brother  of  Lord  Hartington. 
(Lord  Frederick  was  afterwards  assassinated  at  Phoenix 
Park  in  1882.)  I  had  a  letter  to  him  from  my  father, 
who  had  entertained  him  and  Lord  Hartington  in  the 
United  States  in  the  sixties. 

Lord  Frederick  is  short  and  frail,  modest  and  unas- 
suming. He  says  important  and  interesting  things  in 
such  a  quiet  way.  At  first  sight  he  would  not  impress 
one  as  having  the  ability  he  undoubtedly  possesses.  He 
has  sandy  hair  and  blue  eyes,  or  blue-gray  eyes.  He  has 
no  children. 

The  great  Gladstone  was  expected,  but  did  not  come. 
Among  the  guests  —  about  ten  or  more  —  were  Lord 
Colin  Campbell,  youngest  son  of  the  Duke  of  Argyll, 
two   sisters   of  Lady  Frederick,   and   the   Honorable 


AT  SIR  ROBERT  PHILLEVIORE'S  6 

Alfred  Lyttelton,  Lady  Frederick's  brother,  son  of  Lord 
Lyttelton.  (K  this  was  AKred,  as  I  think  it  was,  and 
not  one  of  his  elder  brothers,  it  was  he  who  in  1885  mar- 
ried the  charming  Laura  Tennant,  so  highly  praised  by 
Mrs.  Humphry  Ward  in  her  "Recollections,"  and  who 
has  won  high  honors  at  the  Bar  and  in  Parliament.) 

Colin  told  me  that  his  father,  the  Duke  of  Argyll, 
was  off  yachting,  which  of  course  I  was  sorry  to  learn 
as  I  had  a  letter  to  him  also. 

An  American  who  goes  out  a  good  deal  in  London 
informed  me  that  it  was  de  rigueur  to  wear  patent 
leather  shoes  and  gold  shirt  studs.  I  had  not  been  in 
the  habit  of  wearing  patent  leathers  at  home.  My  new 
orders  for  shoes  and  clothing  had  not  been  filled,  so  I 
went  this  evening  in  my  plain  but  well-blacked  shoes 
and  old  dress  suit.  I  found  when  I  got  there  that  Colin 
Campbell  and  Lord  Frederick  Cavendish  both  had  the 
same  footwear  and  both  wore  plain  mother-of-pearl 
shirt  studs  like  mine.  Tea  was  served  about  10.30.  Sir 
Robert  insisted  upon  driving  me  home,  which  was  very- 
kind  of  him,  though,  to  be  sure,  it  was  not  far  out  of  his 
way. 

I  also  had,  as  already  stated,  an  invitation  to  dine 
with  Sir  John  Kennaway  for  this  same  evening,  but  had 
to  decline  with  regret  quite  sincere,  as  the  Kennaways 
are  noted  for  their  dinners  and  company. 

Saturday,  July  17 

Went  to  the  National  Gallery  in  the  afternoon  and 
dined  at  Mrs.  Robert  Mackintosh's  at  seven  o'clock  in 
the  evening.  She  was  Miss  Mary  Appleton,  of  Boston, 
and  sister  of  the  late  Mrs.  Henry  W.  Longfellow.  There 
were  present  Mrs.  Mackintosh,  her  brother  "Uncle 
Tom"  Appleton,  who  was  very  kind  to  me  and  was  as 


6        HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

usual  remarkably  bright,  witty,  and  entertaining;  also 
Miss  Eva  Mackintosh  and  one  or  two  friends.  I  did  not 
think  they  half  appreciated  Tom  Appleton,  the  "prince 
of  prattlers."  He  showed  me  a  number  of  his  paintings 
made  on  the  Upper  Nile,  in  Palestine,  and  in  Lower 
Egypt. 

In  the  morning  went  over  Lincoln's  Inn  and  all  the 
courts  with  Mr.  Rawlins,  a  young  barrister  and  friend 
of  Tom  Hughes,  author  of  "Tom  Brown  at  Rugby,"  to 
whom  Professor  James  Russell  Lowell  had  given  me  a 
letter.  I  could  not  have  had  a  better  cicerone.  Here 
was  where  Pendennis  and  Warrington  did  almost  every- 
thing else  but  study  for  the  law,  and  in  how  many  other 
books  do  we  not  read  of  Lincoln's  Inn  or  Lincoln's  Inn 
Fields! 

Sunday  y  July  18 

Expected  from  Sir  Robert  Phillimore  a  card  of  admis- 
sion to  the  Temple,  but  as  it  did  not  come  stayed  at 
home  all  the  morning. 

Lunched  at  Spencer  House,  where  were  Lord  and 
Lady  Spencer,  Lord  Charles  Bruce,  who  was  very  jolly 
and  kind  to  me,  and  Lady  Spencer's  sister.  Lady  Clif- 
den,  with  two  of  her  children.  Earl  Spencer  is  tall,  with 
slightly  freckled  face,  sandy  reddish  hair,  and  a  very 
long  and  full  beard  of  the  same  color  —  so  large  as  to 
remind  me  of  the  limerick: 

"There  was  an  old  man  with  a  beard. 
Who  said,  *It  is  just  as  I  feared! — 

Two  owls  and  a  hen, 

Four  larks  and  a  wren. 
Have  all  built  their  nests  in  my  beard.'" 

He  has  kind,  keen,  blue  eyes  in  marked  contrast  with 
the  color  of  his  skin  and  hair.  He  is  not  "old,"  however, 


EARL  AND  LADY  SPENCER  7 

being  just  forty,  and  is  still  reported  to  be  one  of  the 
best  horsemen  at  fox-hunting  in  England.  I  saw  him  in 
the  park  riding.  He  stoops  a  good  deal  when  in  the 
saddle,  and  rides  with  what  we  should  think  very  short 
stirrups  and  knees  a  good  deal  bent.  He  was  Lord 
Lieutenant  of  Ireland  from  1868  to  1874,  and  during 
the  lunch  he  and  Lady  Spencer  told  us  something  of 
their  Irish  experiences,  of  horrible  shootings  by  the 
Land  Leaguers  from  behind  fences,  their  having  to  lead 
their  conventional  society  life  notwithstanding  their 
fears  of  assassination,  of  the  warm-hearted  qualities  of 
the  Irish  and  the  mixture  in  their  lives  of  gayety  and 
gravity.  (Later  he  was  again  Lord  Lieutenant  of  Ire- 
land from  1882  to  1885,  Lord  Lieutenant  of  the  Council 
and  First  Lord  of  the  Admiralty  under  Gladstone,  1892 
to  1895,  and  a  Home  Ruler.  In  1893  in  the  Home  Rule 
debate  in  the  House  of  Lords,  I  was  present  and  heard 
Lord  Londonderry  make  an  uncalled-for  and  very  nasty 
statement  that  Spencer,  who  is  one  of  the  most  honor- 
able and  high-minded  of  men,  supported  Home  Rule 
solely  for  the  purpose  of  getting  the  salary  of  a  cabinet 
officer.   Spencer  did  not  deign  to  reply.) 

Lady  Spencer  is  indeed  handsome,  as  she  is  reputed 
to  be,  and,  in  fact,  is  the  most  beautiful  woman  I  have 
yet  seen  in  England.  She  is  the  same  age  as  her  hus- 
band and  still  has  a  graceful  though  not  slender  figure 
(as  judged  from  more  modern  ideas),  and  has  a  per- 
fectly bewitching  smile,  and  when  her  face  is  at  rest,  a 
turn  of  the  lips  that  foreruns  another  smile.  Her  sister, 
Lady  Clifden,  is  also  unusually  handsome,  is  more  calm 
and  statuesque,  is  a  brunette,  with  black  eyes,  while 
Lady  Spencer  has  brown  hair  and  blue  eyes.  Stately 
Lady  Spencer  was  the  third  daughter  of  Frederick 
Charles  William  Seymour,  Esquire,  and  granddaughter 


8        HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

of  the  first  Marquis  of  Bristol.  She  and  her  two  sisters 
were  said  to  be  the  handsomest  young  women  of  their 
time  in  England. 

She  was  surprised  that  I  had  been  in  London  only- 
five  days  and  said  she  would  have  taken  me  for  an 
Englishman  from  my  voice,  and  I  took  it  that  she 
meant  to  be  complimentary.  I  found  that  many  of  the 
English  whom  I  have  met  so  far  talk,  in  the  main,  like 
Boston  and  Cambridge  friends  except  for  the  hesitation 
which  some  men  have. 

My  father  told  me,  in  meeting  distinguished  English- 
men, to  treat  them  in  the  same  way  that  I  would  treat 
Mr.  Lowell,  Mr.  Longfellow,  Dr.  Holmes,  Agassiz,  and 
others,  with  the  courtesy  due  from  a  younger  man  to  an 
elder,  to  use  titles  as  little  as  possible,  and  to  be  per- 
fectly natural  and  at  my  ease  and  neither  forthput- 
ting  nor,  on  the  other  hand,  to  take  the  lower  seat,  be- 
cause in  English  society  the  Bible  parable  will  not  hold. 
They  are  not  likely  to  say,  "Friend,  go  up  higher." 
I  find  this  advice  works  perfectly  and  all  is  natural  and 
easy,  delightful  and  intimate. 

Spencer  House  is  beautifully  situated  on  St.  James's 
Place,  looking  out  on  Green  Park  and  opposite  Bridge- 
water  House,  the  Earl  of  Ellesmere's. 

Of  course  there  was  the  lofty  "  Jeames"  in  full  togs  at 
the  door  and  a  dignified  footman  in  handsome  livery 
between  the  front  door  and  the  reception-room,  and 
others  to  wait  on  table.  What  struck  me  most  in  the 
details  was  the  absence  of  napkins  at  lunch,  though  it 
was  what  we  should  call  a  heavy  lunch,  with  soup, 
chicken  and  game,  vegetables,  fruit,  wines,  etc.  It 
seemed  strange  that  they  should  be  so  slow  in  changing 
their  old  customs,  for,  of  course,  a  napkin  is  as  necessary 
at  a  heavy  lunch  of  this  sort  as  at  a  dinner.  When  Mr. 


TABLE  CUSTOMS  9 

Mackintosh,  son  of  Sir  James  Mackintosh,  who  mar- 
ried Miss  Mary  Appleton,  the  same  Mrs.  Mackintosh 
with  whom  I  dined  a  few  days  ago,  came  to  Boston, 
at  his  first  lunch  at  Mr.  Nathan  Appleton's,  his  father- 
in-law,  it  was  said  that  he  threw  his  napkin  on  the 
floor.  Appleton,  supposing  there  was  a  defect  in  the  nap- 
kin, had  another  one  brought.  This  he  threw  on  the 
floor  also,  and  upon  being  asked  if  there  was  anything 
the  matter  with  his  napkin,  said,  "We  never  use  napkins 
at  lunch  in  England." 

Another  difference  was  this.  It  has  always  been  a 
question  whether  it  is  proper  to  take  a  chicken  bone, 
for  example,  in  one's  hand.  In  America  we  were  gen- 
erally taught  not  to  do  so,  but  I  find  these  nice  ladies 
do,  in  a  delicate  and  fine  manner,  after  the  larger  part 
of  the  meat  had  been  cut  off  —  but  not  with  the  little 
finger  curled  as  I  have  seen  some  would-be  fastidious 
women  do  while  holding  a  teacup  or  a  bit  of  toast.  I 
do  not  see  why  the  English  custom  is  not  right.  The 
meat  next  to  the  bone  is  the  sweetest  and  the  custom 
seems  rational,  though  I  should  think  it  would  still  fur- 
ther necessitate  the  use  of  napkins.  (On  later  visits  in 
England  I  found  napkins  in  use  at  lunch.  At  a  lunch 
in  April,  1913,  with  the  Duke  of  Argyll  and  Princess 
Louise,  at  Kensington  Palace,  the  napkins  were  very 
large  ones,  larger  than  we  usually  have  at  dinners.) 

Another  small  matter  that  differed  from  our  Ameri- 
can custom  was  the  place  of  the  clean  knives  and  forks 
at  the  plates.  We  usually  place  the  fork  at  the  left  and 
the  knife  at  right  angles  to  it  at  the  top.  Here  they  put 
the  knife  on  the  right  side  of  the  plate,  parallel  to  the 
fork  (as  we  have  since  come  to  do  in  the  "States"),  and 
when  I  inadvertently  changed  it  to  the  American  way, 
out  of  habit,  one  of  the  waiters  immediately  took  the 


10      HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

knife  and  put  it  back.  He  was  not  going  to  tolerate 
any  such  outlandish  custom  in  a  great  English  house. 

There  was  much  instructive  and  entertaining  talk 
about  politics,  some  questions  about  America's  recovery- 
after  the  war,  President  Grant  and  his  cabinet,  the 
condition  of  the  negroes  in  the  Southern  States,  and 
the  feeling  between  England  and  America,  but  mostly 
was  it  about  persons  and  affairs  English.  Spencer  had 
been  to  the  United  States  in  the  early  days  of  the  Civil 
War  and  been  entertained  by  my  father.  He  said  the 
Duke  of  Argyll,  Sir  George  Lewis,  and  Lord  Stanley,  for 
example,  sided  with  the  North,  but  most  of  the  ruling 
class  were  on  the  side  of  the  South.  Disraeli  was  scru- 
pulously neutral,  while  Lord  John  Russell  said  "the 
North  was  striving  for  empire  and  the  South  for  inde- 
pendence." Lord  Coleridge  was  at  first  for  the  South 
and  later  changed  for  the  North,  while  Gladstone,  much 
as  he  opposed  slavery,  was  rather  Southern  in  his  feel- 
ings. The  women  seem  well  informed  and  interested  in 
public  matters  in  comparison  to  the  American  women, 
which  is  quite  natural,  as  their  husbands,  brothers, 
fathers,  and  sons  are  many  of  them  members  and  usually 
leading  members  of  the  House  of  Commons,  if  not  of 
the  House  of  Lords.  Speaking  of  Disraeli  they  call  him 
"Dizzy." 

Spencer  unfortunately  has  no  son.  Though  he  has 
been  married  since  1848  his  heir  is  his  liaK  brother. 
Spencer  could  hardly  be  more  friendly  and  made  several 
plans  to  help  me  see  people  and  places,  and  asked  me  to 
come  again  soon  and  talked  of  inviting  me  to  his  coun- 
try seat  after  Parliament  adjourns. 

Lunch  over,  I  went  to  Westminster  Abbey.  I  was  a 
little  late  for  the  service  and  had  to  stand  at  a  distance. 
Dean  Stanley  preached,  but  from  my  remote  position 


LORD  AND  LADY  FREDERICK  CAVENDISH       11 

I  could  not  hear  all  he  said.  The  music  and  the  associa- 
tions with  the  place  brought  tears  to  my  eyes  time  and 
time  again.  I  did  not  stay  to  look  at  the  abbey  on 
account  of  the  crowd. 

Took  afternoon  tea  with  Mr.  Henry  Tuke  Parker, 
formerly  of  Boston,  and  his  wife  and  daughter  and  went 
with  them  to  evening  church.  On  Sunday  he,  like  some 
other  people  in  England  (very  much  as  we  do  at  home), 
had  dinner  in  the  middle  of  the  day  and  only  an  evening 
tea  or  supper  so  that  the  servants  might  go  out  early. 
Good  singing  and  an  earnest  sermon.  At  supper  were 
also  the  clergjonan  and  young  Dr.  Henry  P.  Quincy,  of 
Boston  (who  afterwards  married  in  1877  Miss  Mary 
Adams,  daughter  of  Charles  Francis  Adams,  our  former 
Minister  to  England). 

Monday,  July  19 

Called  on  Lord  Frederick  Cavendish  at  four  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon  according  to  previous  arrangement,  and 
walked  with  him  from  his  house  on  Carlton  House  Ter- 
race to  the  Parliament  buildings.  Speaking  of  the  beauty 
among  English  women.  Lady  Frederick,  while  not  as 
beautiful  as  Lady  Spencer,  has  fine  dark  eyes,  brilliant 
coloring,  dark  hair,  and  graceful,  dignified,  and  rather 
slender  figure,  and  regular  features  lighting  up  with  a 
friendly  smile.  She  is  the  second  daughter  of  Lord 
Lyttelton  and  maid  of  honor  to  the  Queen.  Lord 
Frederick  was  Lord  of  the  Treasury  during  Gladstone's 
last  administration,  was  previously  his  secretary,  and 
now  sits  on  the  Opposition  bench.  He  secured  me  a  seat 
in  what  is  called  the  Speaker's  Gallery.  He  gave  me 
the  orders  of  the  day  and  a  copy  of  the  Agricultural  Hold- 
ings Bill,  with  all  the  proposed  amendments.  I  heard  a 
somewhat  interesting  but  not  great  debate.  There  were 


12      HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

some  rather  stupid  and  long-spun  arguments  as  to  the 
value  of  certain  kinds  of  fertilizer,  etc.  It  seemed  to  me 
that  it  would  have  been  far  better  to  have  got  this  at 
committee  hearings  from  experts  than  to  have  the  time 
taken  up  in  debate  by  the  private  views,  on  such  mat- 
ters, of  the  individual  members  who  have  had  no  scien- 
tific or  chemical  training,  as  is  almost  invariably  the 
case  with  educated  Englishmen  of  the  upper  or  reign- 
ing class. 

The  "slaughter  of  the  innocents,"  or  throwing  down 
the  less  important  bills,  was  to  have  taken  place,  but 
*' Dizzy"  had  not  made  up  his  mind  what  ones  to  save 
and  what  ones  to  kill.  The  Opposition  think  it  is  full 
time  to  know.  In  reply  to  this  Disraeli  made  an  amus- 
ing speech  in  which  he  entertained  the  House  and  said 
nothing. 

Whalley,  the  violent  anti-Catholic  member,  soon  got 
up  with  his  anti-Jesuit  bill,  and  before  long  was  called 
to  order  in  what  I  was  told  was  the  usual  way  in  his 
case.  He  is  the  successor  of  Mr.  Spooner,  who,  during 
my  father's  visit  to  England  in  1856,  made  just  such  at- 
tacks. Whalley  managed  to  get  in  quite  a  little  speech, 
in  which  he  accused  the  Government  of  shutting  its 
eyes  to  the  awful  danger  from  the  encroachments  of  the 
papal  party  in  England.  Disraeli  answered  this  by  say- 
ing that  the  Government  was  aware  of  the  great  dangers 
that  exist  from  this  source,  but  the  most  dangerous 
persons  of  all,  whom  he  suspects  may  be  secret  emissa- 
ries from  Rome,  are  those  who,  under  the  pretense  of 
violent  Protestantism,  make  such  exaggerated  and  ob- 
viously erroneous  statements  as  to  leave  an  impression 
on  the  public  mind  that  after  all  there  is  no  danger 
whatsoever.  This  brought  about  a  laugh  at  Whalley's 
expense  and  some  applause,  which,  by  the  custom  of 


**»t^. 


^ 


^^u-Ke£^C 


LORD  FREDERICK  CAVENDISH 
1S66 


VISIT  TO  THE  HOUSE  OF  COIMMONS  13 

the  House  of  Commons,  consists  largely  in  calling  out, 
"Hear,  hear." 

Lord  Frederick  Cavendish,  Liberal,  and  Sir  John 
Kennaway,  Tory,  sat  with  me  from  time  to  time,  told 
me  who  the  different  people  were,  and  explained  the 
proceedings.  I  heard  questions  put  to  the  Ministry  and 
answered.  One  was  as  to  the  necessity  of  passports  on 
the  Continent;  which  to  me  was  quite  a  practical  mat- 
ter as  I  was  going  there  soon.  The  Ministry  declared 
that  passports  were  not  necessary,  but  might  be  useful 
for  purposes  of  identification.  The  answers,  as  in  this 
case,  are  sometimes  made  by  the  parliamentary  under- 
secretaries. Disraeli  is  particularly  fond  of  bringing  his 
young  proteges  forward. 

A  motion  was  made  to  adjourn  followed  by  a  general 
discussion.  We  allow  no  debate  on  motion  to  adjourn, 
while  in  the  Enghsh  Parliament  it  is  customary  to 
tolerate,  until  objection  is  made,  the  most  general  dis- 
cussion covering  a  very  broad  field  on  all  sorts  of  mat- 
ters. 

Left  the  House  at  six-fifteen  and  went  to  dine  with 
Rawlins  at  the  Savile  Club,  of  which  I  am  made  an 
honorary  member.  This  is  one  of  the  smaller  clubs  com- 
posed of  active  young  barristers,  doctors,  etc.,  much  less 
formal  and  less  expensive  than  the  larger  clubs.  (This  is 
mentioned  in  Sir  Harry  Johnston's  "  Gay  Dombeys  "  as 
still  existing  in  1919.)  They  had  a  common  dinner  at  a 
long  table  (very  much  as  at  the  Century  Club  in  New 
York)  and  it  was  the  custom  there  (as  in  the  Century)  for 
members  or  guests  to  speak  to  one  another  without 
introduction.  The  club  is  select,  yet  they  are  sociable 
and  the  conversation  is  bright  and  entertaining.  Spir- 
itualism and  investigation  into  manifestations  were 
discussed  at  length.    They  have  a  committee  looking 


U      HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

into  these  matters  called  the  "Committee  on  Psychic 
Research,"  and  which  uses  the  aid  of  noted  prestidigita- 
tors. Had  a  long  talk  with  the  chairman  of  this  com- 
mittee, who  thought  that  most,  if  not  all,  of  the  phe- 
nomena they  have  investigated  either  showed  fraud,  as 
was  usually  the  case,  or  were  based  on  mere  coinci- 
dences, or  could  be  explained  on  natural  grounds,  and 
that  all  hearsay  evidence  was  apt  to  be  exaggerated 
from  the  prevalent  love  of  the  marvelous,  and  on  in- 
vestigation at  original  sources  the  facts  were  almost 
always  found  to  be  much  less  remarkable  than  the  cur- 
rent account  of  them. 

Rawlins  has  a  younger  brother  at  Eton  and  a  cousin 
at  Cambridge.  He  gave  me  a  letter  to  the  former  and 
also  to  a  master  at  Eton,  and  advised  me  to  go  there  on 
Thursday,  which  is  the  great  Eton  day. 

At  nine-thirty  I  went  back  to  the  House  of  Commons 
and  stayed  on  till  it  was  about  to  adjourn. 

As  I  sat  through  the  debates  I  heard,  so  softly  as  to 
be  a  vibration  rather  than  a  sound,  the  Westminster 
chimes  warning  us  of  the  passing  quarter  hours,  and 
when  I  went  outside  I  heard  above  me  from  the  belfry, 
more  clearly,  the  four  peals  for  the  quarters  and  the 
solemn,  low  boom  of  one  for  the  hour. 

I  am  naturally  deeply  interested  in  the  effect  of  hav- 
ing the  members  of  the  cabinet  in  the  House,  taking 
part  in  debate,  subject  to  question,  and  being  responsi- 
ble for  the  course  of  legislation.  While  it  leads  to  pub- 
licity, it  also  leads  to  a  great  deal  of  tilting  and  what 
seems  to  be  waste  of  time;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  it 
prevents  too  hasty  legislation  and  keeps  the  Govern- 
ment on  its  good  behavior.  The  Opposition  does  not 
hesitate  openly  to  prevent  or  delay  the  passage  of  con- 
fessedly good  bills  merely  to  injure  the  work  of  the  party 


DISRAELI  AND  GLADSTONE  15 

in  power.   The  only  check  to  this  abuse  is,  I  am  told, 
public  opinion. 

There  is  no  regular  method  of  stopping  indefinite  de- 
bate prolonged  forever.  Of  course  the  English  "pre- 
vious question"  is  not  like  ours.  Ours  is  used  for  the 
purpose  of  bringing  the  issue  to  a  vote  without  further 
debate;  while  in  England  it  merely  postpones  considera- 
tion for  the  day  and  until  the  subject  may  be  again  in- 
troduced; or,  in  other  words,  the  object  of  the  motion  in 
America  is  to  hasten  final  action,  and  in  English  prac- 
tice to  get  rid  of  a  subject  for  the  time  being. 

This  evening  I  saw  the  House  go  into  Committee  of 
the  Whole.  The  Speaker  left  his  chair,  the  chairman  of 
the  committee  took  his  place,  and  the  huge  mace  was 
put  under  the  table  with  great  formality,  i 

Without  any  prompting  from  my  friends,  I  could 
easily  recognize  some  of  the  leading  members  from  the 
pictures  in  "Punch"  —  Disraeh,  Gladstone,  the  Mar- 
quis of  Hartington,  Sir  William  Vernon  Harcourt,  etc. 
Disraeli,  who  is  now  Prime  Minister,  wore  a  fancy  waist- 
coat, large  rings,  a  striking  fob  or  elaborate  watch- 
chain  of  some  kind,  and  had  the  black  curls  on  his  fore- 
head and  the  sphinx-like  expression  in  his  face  for  which 
he  is  so  noted.  Occasional  smiles  passed  over  his  coun- 
tenance and  the  expression  changed,  yet  I  felt  that  he 
was  never  revealing  his  inner  thoughts.  Gladstone 
struck  one  as  more  sincere.  I  think  his  worst  enemies 
—  for  he  has  some  enemies  —  at  least  give  him  credit 
for  persuading  himself  to  believe  what  he  says.  Many 
of  his  political  opponents  think  him  inconsistent  and 
subtle-minded.  The  critics  whom  I  mention,  who  are  To- 
ries, are  few  and  their  criticisms  moderate.  Generally, 
I  found  almost  unbounded  admiration  for  "the  grand 
old  man,"  as  he  is  often  called.    (In  1893  his  inability 


16      HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

to  have  carried  out  all  his  Midlothian  campaign  prom- 
ises, after  his  bitter  attacks  on  Disraeli,  his  espousing 
Irish  Home  Rule,  his  *' vacillating  and  inconsistent 
policy"  in  Egypt  and  the  Soudan,  resulting  in  the 
death  of  General  Gordon,  and  the  suspicion  that  he 
favored  disestablishment  of  the  English  Church,  had 
very  much  changed  matters.  I  was  then  present  at  the 
debates  on  his  Irish  Home  Rule  Bill  in  the  House  of 
Lords  and  listened  to  many  bitter  personal  attacks 
upon  him.  These  I  heard  echoed  in  private  conversa- 
tion with  Unionists.  Very  few  people  I  met  in  1893, 
outside  the  Home  Rulers,  believed  in  him,  and  many 
seemed  to  vie  among  themselves  in  denouncing  him 
in  terms  so  bitter  as  to  be  absurd.  For  "subtlety"  of 
mind  in  1875,  "sophistry"  was  substituted  in  1893. 
They  would  n't  believe  that  Gladstone  had  ordinary 
veracity.  It  was  commonly  repeated  that  a  high  eccle- 
siastic had  said  he  "would  n't  trust  him  with  a  penny 
round  the  corner."  They  accused  him  of  being  un- 
balanced through  egotism  and  as  acting  only  from  the 
motive  of  keeping  himself  in  power.) 

(One  feature  of  Gladstone's  debates  had  been  es- 
pecially irritating  to  his  opponents.  He  always  assumed 
that  he  was  morally  right,  or,  as  President  Lowell  once 
summed  it  up,  Gladstone  had  the  good  fortune  which 
followed  him  through  life,  that  whenever  he  changed 
his  views  the  Almighty  changed  his  at  the  same  time. 
In  "A  Modern  Symposium,"  by  G.  Lowes  Dickinson, 
is  an  account  of  a  conversation  between  a  character, 
evidently  intended  for  Gladstone,  ending  with  an  assur- 
ance that  what  he  had  just  said  was  in  accordance  with 
the  principles  of  the  Almighty,  and  a  character  repre- 
senting Disraeli  who  replied  in  substance :  I  do  not  pre- 
tend to  have  that  intimate  knowledge  of  the  mind  of 


THE  AGRICULTURAL  HOLDINGS  BILL  17 

the  Almighty  which  my  predecessor  has  just  claimed. 
Tennyson  says,  "Fame  is  but  half  disfame."  With  Glad- 
stone in  1893  you  might  well  say  three  quarters.  Later, 
after  the  heat  over  the  Home  Rule  Bill  of  1893  cooled 
off,  and  still  more  after  his  death,  the  perspective 
changed,  and  once  again  his  great  qualities  stood  out 
in  their  rightful  proportions.) 

Tuesday,  July  20 

Went  with  Mr.  Ferguson  to  the  House  of  Commons, 
which  met  early,  that  is,  at  two  o'clock  instead  of  the 
usual  hour  of  four  in  the  afternoon.  The  House  was  in 
Committee  of  the  TMiole  on  the  Agricultural  Holdings 
Bill.  The  main  feature  of  this  bill  was  to  allow  farm 
tenants  the  value  of  improvements  they  may  make. 
Then  came  up  the  distinctions  between  substantial 
■permanent  improvements,  such  as  the  erection  of  new 
buildings  or  thorough  tile  draining  of  wet  lands,  and 
the  using  of  fertilizers  whose  benefits  might  merely 
outlast  a  lease  by  a  year  or  so.  There  was  no  good  de- 
bate and  none  at  all  on  the  general  objects  of  the  bill 
itself.  I  think  these  were  generally  agreed  to.  The  dis- 
cussion was  again  on  fertilizers  and  their  relative  dura- 
bility. 

As  the  proceedings  w^ere  dull  and  most  of  the  im- 
portant members  out  of  the  House,  Mr.  Ferguson  and  I 
left  and  went  to  the  house  of  a  friend  of  his,  a  Dr.  Jones, 
in  Green  Street,  Park  Square,  for  afternoon  tea  at  five 
o'clock.  It  was  a  pleasant  and  agreeable  family  gather- 
ing. Two  of  the  daughters  sang  some  duets  quite  well, 
though  they  were  a  little  frightened.  They  made  me 
sing  some  college  and  negro  songs,  which  w^ere  new  to 
them  and  which  they  seemed  to  like. 

I  had  to  decline  an  invitation  for  this  evening  to  dine 


18      HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

with  Lord  Selborne,  formerly  Sir  Roundell  Palmer  and 
chief  counsel  for  Great  Britain  in  the  Alabama  Claims 
Arbitration  at  Geneva,  for  which  service,  though  he  did 
not  win  his  case,  he  won  his  new  title.  I  had  previously 
accepted  an  invitation  to  dine  with  Lord  Tenterden  at 
the  Garrick  Club.  Tenterden  is  the  permanent  head  of 
the  Foreign  Office,  the  man  who  is  said  to  have  saved 
the  Treaty  of  Washington  by  his  tact  and  ability,  thus 
securing  the  arbitration  of  the  Alabama  Claims  con- 
tained in  that  treaty,  the  first  great  arbitration  of  the 
kind  and  which  averted  possible  war  between  Great 
Britain  and  the  United  States.  Tenterden  is  about 
five  feet  eight,  broad-shouldered,  very  dark,  prominent 
eyes,  swarthy  complexion,  has  a  large  beard,  and  a  truly 
winning  smile.  He  has  a  vast  fund  of  information  not 
only  in  history  and  diplomacy,  but  on  many  unexpected 
matters,  which  is  always  at  command. 

At  the  Tenterden  dinner  we  had  an  Italian,  the 
counselor,  I  believe  he  was,  for  Count  Sclopis,  when  a 
member  of  the  Geneva  Arbitration  Court.  Among  the 
guests  was  a  rich  American,  a  recent  graduate  of 
Yale  College,  with  a  two-hundred-ton  yacht,  and  a  few 
others,  but  from  the  English  habit  of  not  introducing 
and  from  Lord  Tenterden's  being  so  entertaining  up  to 
the  moment  I  left  him,  I  did  not  get  the  names  of  them 
all.  The  American  was  rather  formal  and  stiff.  The 
Englishmen  were  bright  and  well-informed,  gentlemanly 
and  charming,  men  whom  I  may  never  meet  again,  like 
ships  we  pass  in  the  night  whose  lights  we  see,  but  whose 
names  we  do  not  read.  Lord  Tenterden  asked  me  to 
visit  him  in  his  cottage  in  the  north  of  Devonshire  on 
the  seacoast  at  the  end  of  August,  and  I  accepted. 

The  Garrick  Club  is  interesting  in  itself.   They  have 
there  some  celebrated  pictures  and  large  portraits,  and 


LORD  TENTERDEN 


THE  GARRICK  CLUB  19 

a  host  of  small  ones  of  actors,  actresses,  and  playwrights, 
and  old  handbills  about  the  walls.  I  saw  there  a  bust  of 
Shakespeare  supposed  to  have  been  made  some  thirty 
years  after  his  death,  and  which  was  lately  excavated  in 
digging  in  the  Inner  Temple.  It  used  to  stand  on  one 
side  of  the  proscenium  of  the  theatre  with  a  correspond- 
ing bust  of  Ben  Jonson  on  the  other.  This  rather  seems 
as  if  those  in  authority  who  knew  Shakespeare  per- 
sonally thought  him  to  be  the  author  of  his  plays  and 
capable  of  writing  them. 

Found  a  letter  from  Smalley  written  at  Margate  with 
a  message  from  Tom  Hughes  —  "Tom  Brown's  School 
Days"  —  that  he  is  unable  to  write,  adding  that  he 
hopes  to  be  in  London  again  in  a  week  or  so  and  to  see 
me.  Smalley  thought  this  was  too  hopeful  a  view  of 
Hughes's  health,  as  he  had  just  had  inflammatory  rheu- 
matism followed  by  a  sharp  attack  of  hereditary  gout. 
Hughes  has  been  in  Parliament  and  is  much  interested 
in  the  working  classes  and  Christian  sociology.  I  should 
like  so  much  to  see  him.  (He  did  not  get  back  to  London 
during  the  season  and  I  never  had  the  good  fortune  to 
meet  him,  but  treasure  this  friendly  message.) 

Wednesday,  July  21  ' 

Made  several  calls,  among  others  on  Sir  Robert  Philli- 
more.  Sir  John  Kennaway,  Lord  Selborne,  Mrs.  Mack- 
intosh, Mrs.  Parker,  Lady  Frederick  Cavendish,  and 
Mrs.  Smalley.  The  Smalley s  had  invited  me  to  dinner, 
but  unfortunately  on  a  day  when  I  had  another  engage- 
ment. Dined  at  Sir  John  Kennaway's.  Kennaway  is 
a  Baronet  from  Ottery  St.  Mary,  Devonshire,  and  a 
strong  Tory.  He  visited  the  United  States,  both  South 
and  North,  just  after  the  Civil  War,  was  entertained  by 
my  father,  and  on  his  return  wrote  a  book  called  "On 


20      HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

Sherman's  Track,"  a  vivid  and  true  account  of  what  he 
saw  and  heard.  There  were  present  Lady  Kennaway; 
her  brother,  Mr.  Arbuthnot,  a  dehghtful  man;  and  a 
number  of  others.  Next  to  me  at  table  sat  an  EngUsh 
lady  who  was  pleasant,  smiling,  and  talked  agreeably 
until  Sir  John  told  her  that  I  was  from  America.  Sud- 
denly she  turned  her  back  on  me  as  much  as  to  say, 
*'Is  it  possible  that  I  have  been  talking  with  one  from 
that  nasty  place?'*  The  Enghsh  use  "nasty"  for  al- 
most everything  disagreeable.  She  actually  made  up  a 
face  and  ejected  some  apparently  unpleasant  remark 
which  I  did  n't  quite  catch.  I  was  determined,  if  pos- 
sible, to  change  her  disagreeable  impression  by  being 
really,  though  not  over^  polite,  and  yet  sincere,  and  I 
flatter  myself  that  I  had  reasonably  fair  success,  for 
later  in  the  evening  she  spoke  to  me  with  something  like 
a  smile.  She  is  the  only  lady  I  have  met  who  has  shown 
such  unfortunate  impressions  of  "Yankees,"  though 
there  is  still  no  little  trace  of  the  feeling  that  existed 
against  the  North  during  the  Civil  War,  and  we  must 
remember  too  that  some  of  these  people  have  lost 
heavily  in  Confederate  bonds. 

Opposite  me  was  a  sister  of  Lady  Frederick  Caven- 
dish, the  wife  of  Dr.  Talbot,  warden  of  Keble  College, 
Oxford,  and  we  had  a  little  talk  across  the  table,  which, 
however,  is  not  a  common  custom,  I  am  told,  in 
England.  After  the  ladies  went  out,  I  took  part  in  a 
most  engrossing  conversation  with  several  members 
of  Parliament  and  eminent  barristers,  one  Mr.  West- 
lake,  who  had  corresponded  with  my  father,  the  names 
of  the  others  unknown,  as  usual  not  being  introduced. 
There  were  about  six  or  seven  of  them  and  almost  all 
Tories,  and  therefore  opponents  of  Gladstone  and  sup- 
porters of  Disraeli. 


AT  MR.  GLADSTONE'S  21 

Later  in  the  evening  I  went  to  Mr.  Gladstone's  by 
special  invitation  from  his  wife  for  a  little  family  party. 
It  is  not  at  all  uncommon  in  London  to  invite  people  to 
come  in  after  dinner.  With  us  it  seems  to  be  considered 
that  if  we  cannot  ask  a  person  to  dine,  we  had  better 
not  ask  him  to  come  in  afterwards  for  fear  it  would  look 
as  if  we  were  giving  him  a  sort  of  second  place ;  but  that 
is  not  at  all  the  way  here,  for  sometimes  those  who  are 
invited  to  come  later  are  more  distinguished  than  those 
at  the  dinner.  Society  is  so  large  that  one  cannot  ask 
everybody.  These  after-dinner  assemblies,  beginning 
about  ten  o'clock,  are  informal  and  delightful. 

I  may  say  as  to  the  dinners,  you  are  usually  asked  for 
eight  or  even  as  late  as  half -past,  and  you  are  always  ex- 
pected to  be  punctually  late  to  the  extent  of  exactly  a 
quarter  of  an  hour;  that  is,  if  you  are  asked  to  dine  at 
eight,  it  means  that  you  are  expected  at  the  door  at 
quarter-past,  and  if  for  half-past  eight,  at  a  quarter  to 
nine.  The  usual  breakfast  hour  for  professional  men  is 
nine  o'clock,  lunch  at  two,  tea  at  five,  and  dinner  at 
eight  or  half -past.  For  those  of  leisure  the  only  difference 
is  in  the  brealvfast  hour,  which  is  a  little  later,  say  nine- 
thirty  or  ten. 

To  come  back  to  Mr.  Gladstone's.  He  is  living  at 
23  Carlton  House  Terrace.  It  is  a  dull  period  in  par- 
liamentary affairs.  Gladstone's  party,  the  Liberals,  had 
been  defeated  a  little  over  a  year  ago  and  he  himself  had 
nominally  retired  from  politics.  The  only  measure  of 
importance  in  Disraeli's  new  government  was  the  ec- 
clesiastical bill  to  restrain  ritualistic  practice  among  the 
High  Church  party,  which  was  passed  in  the  spring  at 
the  instance  of  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  This 
brought  Gladstone,  who  was  one  of  the  Oxford  Tracta- 
rians  and  a  High  Churchman,  out  from  his  retirement, 


22      HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

and  the  Marquis  of  Hartington,  who  had  been  the 
titular  leader  of  the  Liberals,  gave  way  to  Gladstone  in 
important  debates. 

To-day  the  engagement  of  Gladstone's  elder  son, 
William  H.,  is  announced,  and  all  the  family  are  full  of 
the  subject  and  talk  of  little  else  than  wedding  pres- 
ents, arrangements,  etc.  The  fiancee  is  the  Honorable 
Gertrude  Stuart,  daughter  of  Lord  Blantyre.  It  is  a 
pity  that  this  should  come  just  now,  for  it  gives  me  less 
opportunity  to  see  Mr.  Gladstone  at  his  best,  as  he  goes 
into  this  matter  with  his  usual  energy  and  thoroughness, 
and  it  is  hard  to  get  him  to  say  more  than  a  few  words 
on  any  other  subject. 

He  asked  me  about  the  number  of  inches  of  rainfall 
in  Boston,  which  I  gave  him.  I  remarked  that  this  was 
greater  than  the  rainfall  in  London,  though  London  has 
a  reputation  of  being  a  wetter  place  than  our  eastern 
American  cities,  and  as  I  had  recently  read  the  statistics 
in  the  English  Guide  Book,  I  mentioned  the  number  of 
inches  of  rainfall  in  London  and  thought  I  had  recol- 
lected rightly.  I  was  right  in  the  general  fact  that 
London  had  less  precipitation  than  Boston,  but  did  n't 
put  the  London  water-fall  quite  low  enough,  by  an  inch 
or  so,  and  Mr.  Gladstone  corrected  me,  and  when  I 
looked  it  up  again,  I  found  he  was  right,  illustrating  how 
retentive  is  his  memory  even  in  small  details. 

Gladstone  asked  me  about  the  general  impression  of 
the  Reverend  Henry  Ward  Beecher  case,  in  America. 
The  case  referred  to  was  a  cause  scandaleuse,  linking 
his  name  with  that  of  a  Mrs.  Tilton.  I  told  him  what  I 
believed  the  feeling  to  be  among  sober,  well-educated 
Americans,  and  he  felt  badly,  though  it  was  just  what 
he  feared,  as  he  said,  and  yet  he  hoped  it  was  not  so. 
I  told  him  that  the  evidence  was  such  as  to  injure 


TALK  WITH  GLADSTONE  23 

Beecher's  character  for  discretion  in  such  matters  very 
much,  although  there  was  not  enough  evidence  to  con- 
vict him  of  anything  further  or  even  to  lead  a  fair- 
minded  man  to  believe  that  Beecher  was  surely  guilty. 
He  certainly  set  a  bad  example  to  society  and  was  in- 
considerate of  the  husband. 

On  the  voyage  over  I  had  read  Gladstone's  recent 
pamphlet  on  "The  Vatican  Decrees  and  Civil  Alle- 
giance," Cardinal  Manning's  Reply  to  it,  and  Glad- 
stone's Rejoinder.  I  spoke  to  him  of  these,  and  how  I 
had  studied  them,  and  of  his  point  that  the  decree  of  in- 
fallibility tends  to  make  "a  [Roman]  Catholic  first  and 
an  Englishman  afterwards."  Gladstone,  whose  whole 
time  for  months  had  been  taken  up  with  the  prepara- 
tion, especially  of  his  rejoinder,  evidently  did  not  care 
to  go  into  a  discussion  of  the  subject  on  this  family 
occasion  further  than  to  remark  something  about 
Manning's  "evasions"  and  "subtleties,"  and  to  speak 
of  the  difficulties  of  distinguishing  in  practice  between 
matters  of  faith  and  morals  on  the  one  hand  and  duty 
to  a  country  on  the  other;  and  he  also  referred  to  Man- 
ning's point  that  the  infallibility  of  any  papal  decree 
was  not  settled  to  be  such  until  passed  on  by  the  Schola 
Theologorum.  This  Gladstone  suggested  left  the  matter 
in  doubt,  in  some  cases  for  a  generation,  and  mean- 
while a  faithful  Catholic  might  have  to  take  all  papal 
utterances  as  infallible  till  declared  otherwise,  as  his 
conscientious  duty  and  only  safe  course. 

Gladstone  also  said  a  word  about  the  restraints  on 
ritual  in  the  Disraeli  law  as  being  a  form  of  persecution 
in  matters  of  conscience  and  unwise  as  a  method  of 
avoiding  extremes. 

Mrs.  Gladstone  follows  with  the  most  intense  in- 
terest everything  that  her  husband  says  and  evidently 


24      HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

worships  him.  If  a  wife  "makes  or  mars  a  husband's 
career,"  she  certainly  gives  him  inspiration.  (Years 
afterwards  Lord  George  Hamilton,  in  his  "  Parliamen- 
tary Reminiscences,"  though  a  bitter  opponent  of  Glad- 
stone, pays  her  this  high  tribute:  "No  Prime  Minister 
ever  had  a  more  devoted,  and  in  my  judgment,  a  more 
capable  helpmate.  She  never  showed  in  the  most  diffi- 
cult and  awkward  positions  either  want  of  dignity  or 
resource,  and  her  inherent  kindness  of  heart  and  good 
nature  were  universally  admitted  by  all  who  knew  her.") 
I  Gladstone,  I  am  informed,  asks  many  questions  on 
any  subject  in  which  he  thinks  his  interlocutor  is  in- 
formed. Like  Sir  Robert  Peel,  he  extracts  from  a 
specialist  the  essence  of  his  knowledge  in  short  time. 
He  has  no  pride  in  the  matter,  for  though  he  has  such 
an  enormous  amount  of  accurate  information  himself, 
he  is  quite  ready  to  admit  his  ignorance  of  any  fact  he 
does  not  know.  Fact,  I  say,  for  some  assert  that,  at  his 
present  age,  he  is  not  easily  receptive  to  new  theories 
contrary  to  his  established  opinions. 

Gladstone's  voice  is  clear,  distinct,  resonant,  flexible, 
and  has  a  large  range.  It  is  not  the  ministerial,  empty- 
barrel,  deep  kind,  like  that  of  our  General  Banks, 
"  Vox  et  prceterea  nihil,"  but  more  like  that  of  Wendell 
Phillips,  combining  both  cultivation  and  naturalness. 
It  is  free  from  affectation.  There  is  no  stammering  or 
lisping  or  mouthing.  There  is  a  directness  of  emphasis, 
if  that  is  the  right  phrase  to  use.  I  mean  such  a  con- 
trolling desire  to  convince  as  carries  the  emphasis  nat- 
urally to  just  the  right  word.  In  talking  he  uses  almost 
no  gesture.  There  was  a  conversational  charm,  a  co- 
piousness of  words  and  ideas,  no  tautology  and  much 
courtesy,  and  yet  an  eagerness  of  spirit  withal.  It  was 
very  inspiring  to  meet  so  great  a  man,  and  also  dis- 


ENGLISH  PRONUNCIATIONS  25 

couraging,  for  there  is  evidently  a  power  of  brain  which 
cannot  be  acquired  by  any  amount  of  self-cultivation  or 
study. 

Gladstone  is  tall,  with  spare  figure,  somewhat  hollow 
cheeks  with  high  cheek-bones,  and  slightly  Roman 
nose,  deep-set,  eagle  eyes  of  dark  color  that  seem  to 
pierce  through  you,  broad  forehead,  and  long  hair,  thin 
at  the  top,  almost  bald,  a  firm-set  mouth  and  strong 
chin.  His  complexion  is  rather  pale  for  an  Englishman. 
He  is  now  sixty-six  years  of  age.  He  wears  his  clothes 
loose,  with  no  attempt  at  elegance,  and  has  the  high, 
long-pointed  collars,  so  much  caricatured  in  "Punch." 

I  notice  that  the  majority  of  the  people  I  have  met  so 
far  drop  their  "g's"  in  the  present  participle.  It  is 
*'huntin',"  "ridin',"  etc.  They  pronounce  "interesting" 
in  three  syllables.  We  naturally  slur  the  second,  but 
they  omit  it  altogether.  We  pronounce  "  extraordinary  " 
eks-tror'di-na-ry,  while  here  many  of  them  drop  the  third 
syllable,  making  it  eks-tror'na-ry.  It  was  noticeable 
that  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gladstone  both  pronounced  these 
words  as  we  do  in  America. 

A  few  days  ago  I  called  with  John  F.  Andrew,  son  of 
our  Massachusetts  war  governor,  the  late  John  A.  An- 
drew, on  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gordon  Duff.  They  had  been  our 
fellow-passengers  on  the  Parthia  sailing  from  Boston 
July  3d,  and  to  me  they  were  the  most  exciting  persons 
aboard.  They  were  a  handsome,  young  Scottish  couple 
on  their  wedding  tour. 

"Or  when  the  moon  was  overhead. 
Came  two  young  lovers  lately  wed.'* 

She  was  a  Tennant  and  probably  an  elder  sister  of  the 
famously  charming  Mrs.  Alfred  Lyttelton.  They  asked 
me  to  visit  them  if  I  should  be  in  their  part  of  Scotland, 


26      HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

rather  better  put  than  the  Irishman's  invitation:  "If 
you  are  within  ten  miles  of  my  place,  I  hope  you  will 
stop  there."  We  found  them  at  her  father's  and  had  a 
pleasant  call  and  chat  about  our  voyage,  the  fellow- 
passengers,  etc.,  of  the  Reverend  Samuel  F.  Smith,  the 
author  of  our  national  hymn  "America,"  and  his  origi- 
nal poem  for  our  4th  of  July  celebration  entitled  "Miss 
America's  Tea  Party,"  in  which  Boston  citizens  dis- 
guised as  Indians  made  tea  in  Boston  Harbor  for  the 
teapot  over  one  hundred  years  ago;  and  of  the  mock 
trial,  the  singing,  and  also  the  serenade  on  leaving 
Boston  intended  for  an  Irish  priest  on  our  vessel,  thrill- 
ing us  with  "Home,  Sweet  Home,"  "The  Wearing  of 
the  Green,"  "The  Harp  that  Once  Through  Tara's 
Hall,"  and  "Auld  Lang  Syne."  The  call  was  a  little 
hectic,  however,  as  they  were  all  to  leave  their  London 
lodgings  in  a  few  hours  for  the  North,  and  the  room 
had  portmanteaus  and  luggage  about  and  there  were 
servants  coming  and  going  in  preparation. 

Our  steamer,  the  Parthia,  was  small  —  only  3167 
tons  ^  —  and  as  customary,  even  the  F.F.B.'s  and  the 
English  passengers  wore  rough  clothes  and  flannel 
shirts,  and  no  one  dressed  for  evening  dinner.  The  boat 
had  auxiliary  sails,  so  in  a  shift  of  wind  at  night  I  would 
hear  the  thud  of  coils  thrown  on  deck,  the  rattle  of 
blocks,  the  lively  cries  of  "Yeo  hie,  yeo  ho!"  as  the 
sailors  pulled  at  the  sheets,  and  the  boatswain's  order, 
"Make  fast!  belay!"  Every  hour  during  the  passage 
the  log  was  thrown  over,  just  as  on  shipboard  in  my 

1  The  first  Cunard  steamer  to  cross  the  ocean,  the  Britannia,  sailing 
from  Liverpool  to  Boston  in  1840,  was  1154  tons.  The  Scythia,  the  largest 
of  their  boats  in  1875,  was  4557.  Our  boat  used  forty-five  tons  of  coal  a  day. 
The  Olympic,  the  largest  Cunard  steamship  in  1920,  is  46,359  tons  register 
and  burns  a  thousand  tons  or  more  of  coal  daily.  The  Leviathan  is  54,282 
tons  gross. 


THE  CUNARD  LINE  27 

father's  day  when  he  sailed  round  Cape  Horn.  We 
recalled  how  on  arriving  at  Liverpool,  when  the  pas- 
sengers were  all  on  deck,  dressed  for  going  ashore,  the 
Cunard  Company  took  the  opportunity  to  blow  out  the 
smokestacks,  showering  us  with  cinders,  and  how,  when 
we  protested,  the  officials  replied:  "The  Cunard  Line 
never  lost  a  passenger."  Then,  too,  what  smells  we  had 
during  the  voyage;  a  mixed  odor  of  bilge  water,  pickles, 
oil,  brass  polish,  and  general  sourness,  and  how  we  were 
waked  up  in  the  small  hours  of  the  night,  before  reach- 
ing Liverpool,  by  groans,  shrieks,  and  loud  brays 
suggesting  the  killing  of  the  donkey  engine. 


CHAPTER  II 
SECOND  WEEK  IN  LONDON 

Thursday,  July  22 

Strolling  down  the  Haymarket  in  the  morning  I  met 
Lord  and  Lady  Frederick  Cavendish  walking  up.  Lady 
Frederick  and  I  both  smiled,  for  it  was  the  fourth  time 
we  had  met  in  different  places  during  the  last  eighteen 
hours,  which  is,  of  course,  remarkable  in  such  a  huge 
city  as  London. 

In  the  afternoon  I  went  down  to  the  House  of  Com- 
mons at  Sir  William  Vernon  Harcourt's  invitation.  I 
sent  in  my  card  to  him  and  was  shown  into  the  inner 
lobby,  which  I  had  hardly  entered  when  out  rushed  a 
member  in  a  state  of  wild  excitement,  throwing  his 
arms  about  and  shaking  his  fists  and  making  short 
ejaculations  such  as,  "I  will  expose  the  villains,  all  of 
them!"  I  heard  the  word  "cheats"  and  I  think  "liars." 
The  man's  excitement  was  great  and  he  spoke  hurriedly 
and  disconnectedly.  For  my  part  I  was  astonished  at 
the  scene.  I  knew  nothing  whatsoever  of  the  situation 
or  what  he  was  talking  about.  The  general  impression 
on  me  was  that  I  never  had  seen  an  educated  man  so 
thoroughly  given  up  to  the  passion  of  the  moment.  At 
the  French  Assembly,  or  even  at  Washington,  I  should 
not  have  been  so  much  surprised,  but  it  was  very 
strange  to  see  all  this  in  the  decorous  House  of  Com- 
mons. I  was  told  that  it  was  Mr.  Plimsoll.  Good  blind 
Fawcett,  the  political  economist,  and  other  members 
tried  to  calm  Plimsoll,  but  all  to  no  purpose.  He  would 
not  be  led  away  nor  even  allow  a  hand  to  be  put  on  him. 
The  lobby  was  soon  cleared  of  strangers  by  the  officers 


PLIMSOLL  AND  THE  SHIPPING  BILL  29 

of  the  House,  so  I  did  not  see  how  they  managed  to  get 
the  honorable  member  calmed  and  away.  Soon  I  learned 
that  the  Government  had  announced  the  "slaughter 
of  the  innocents,"  and  the  Merchants'  Shipping  Bill, 
which  was  Plimsoll's  pet  measure,  and  which  the  Gov- 
ernment had  practically  promised  him  would  be  car- 
ried out  at  this  session,  had  been  included  in  the  slaugh- 
ter. This  bill  provided  for  the  ship  load-mark  and  for 
giving  sailors  a  right  to  claim  from  public  authorities  a 
survey  of  the  vessel  and  its  food  so  as  to  prevent  their 
being  sent  to  the  bottom  in  unseaworthy  vessels  for 
the  sake  of  the  insurance  which  the  owners  might  get, 
or  be  forced  to  rely  on  insufficient,  old,  or  musty  food. 

To  understand  the  need  of  the  Plimsoll  bill  one  should 
know  that  seamen,  once  having  signed  a  contract, 
called  the  "shipping  articles,"  for  their  services  on  a 
voyage,  can  be  forced  by  the  courts  to  go  on  that  voy- 
age in  the  vessel  for  which  they  have  signed.  In  no  other 
civil  occupation  can  a  contract  be  thus  enforced.  A 
coachman  who  does  not  keep  his  contract  for  service, 
though  theoretically  liable  in  money  for  damages,  can- 
not by  law  be  compelled  to  work  against  his  will.  In 
practice  sailors  sign  shipping  articles  without  examin- 
y  ing  the  vessel  on  which  they  are  to  sail,  usually  having 
no  opportunity  to  do  so,  or  to  know  about  its  supply  of 
food,  which  is  often  put  on  board  the  last  day  before 
sailing. 

One  should  also  know  that  in  marine  insurance  "val- 
ued" policies  are  common.  That  is,  a  sum  is  agreed 
upon  to  be  paid  in  case  of  total  loss  of  ship  and  cargo 
without  regard  to  the  actual  value  of  the  same.  On  the 
other  hand,  in  fire  insurance  on  buildings  or  on  their 
contents,  the  opposite  is  true.  If  a  house  is  insured  for 
$15,000,  for  example,  and  the  value  is  only  $10,000, 


30      HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

under  the  ordinary  policies  of  insurance,  in  case  of  total 
loss  by  fire  not  more  than  $10,000  can  be  recovered. 

These  valued  policies  on  ships  and  cargoes  give  addi- 
tional incentive  to  sending  unsea worthy  vessels,  called 
"coffin  ships,"  on  voyages  in  the  hope  of  getting  in- 
surance greater  than  the  actual  loss  sustained,  and  thus 
are  risked  the  lives  of  the  sailors. 

I  am  told  that  while  PlimsoU  got  his  sympathy  for 
the  under  dog  from  his  own  early  struggles  with  poverty, 
that  sympathy  was  specially  directed  to  the  case  of 
sailors  in  the  first  instance  from  reading  my  father's 
"Two  Years  Before  the  Mast."  (I  regret  not  having 
arranged  to  meet  him,  but  the  season  was  short  and 
people  were  only  too  hospitable  to  me,  so  I  had  to  leave 
undone  many  things  that  I  should  have  done.  Later 
PlimsoU  visited  the  United  States  in  an  effort  to  elimi- 
nate from  our  histories  and  school  textbooks,  the  bitter 
denunciations  against  Great  Britain  in  connection  with 
the  Revolutionary  War  and  the  War  of  1812.)  To  come 
back  to  the  "episode":  it  turned  out  that,  in  the  House, 
PlimsoU  had  denounced  Disraeli  in  the  most  violent 
terms  as  not  being  a  man  of  his  word  and  "a  liar,"  and 
when  called  to  order  by  the  Speaker,  would  not  re- 
tract. Some  of  his  friends  at  the  time  went  so  far  as  to 
say  that  he  had  lost  his  mind  from  brooding  over  his 
bill.  The  tragedy  of  Ajax  naturally  occurred  to  me, 
where  the  old  hero  became  demented  while  brooding 
over  the  loss  of  the  armor  of  Achilles. 

Soon  after  Sir  William  came  out  and  took  me  into  the 
House,  but  it  was  evidently  in  a  very  unnatural  state. 
The  "Hears"  were  weak  or  forced.  There  was  no  dis- 
turbance, yet  no  one  was  listened  to,  and  the  speakers 
spoke  as  one  might  speak  after  a  deafening  clap  of 
thunder.    All  were  evidently  under  great  nervous  ten- 


SIR  WILLIAM  VERNON  HARCOURT 


GLADSTONE  IN  THE  HOUSE  31 

slon.  (This  was  before  the  times  of  Parnell's  leadership 
of  the  Irish  Home  Rule  group,  when  the  House  became 
accustomed  to  violent  scenes.)  This  tension  continued 
for  some  time,  and  even  Disraeli  failed  to  "amuse"  the 
House.  But  not  long  after  Mr.  Gladstone  got  up  and 
made  a  short  but  earnest  speech  against  the  Govern- 
ment's arranging  their  plans  and  debating  measures  in 
caucus  instead  of  publicly  in  the  House  and  then  not 
telling  the  House  the  results  of  their  deliberations. 
After  this  the  members  settled  down  to  their  usual  state 
of  mind.  The  "Hears"  were  loud  and  natural,  and  I 
think  I  am  not  mistaken  in  saying  that  it  was  because 
they  recognized  an  old  leader  in  whom  they  had  con- 
fidence and  he,  though  in  the  minority,  alone  set  them 
right.  It  had  a  magic  effect  like  the  sudden  appearance 
of  Sheridan  at  the  Battle  of  Winchester  in  the  Civil 
War. 

Sir  William  took  me  into  the  Members'  Dining- 
Room.  It  was  against  the  rule  to  take  strangers  there. 
They  had  to  go  to  the  Strangers'  Room.  It  was  just 
like  Sir  William  to  ignore  such  rules.  He  goes  to  the 
heart  of  matters  and  prefers  not  to  be  bound  by  formal- 
ities. Besides,  he  is  large  and  physically  powerful,  a 
prominent  member  in  line  for  being  Prime  Minister 
some  day,  and  has  such  a  "blinking  smile"  as  to  intimi- 
date any  too  officious  waiter.  Sir  William  belongs  to 
one  of  the  oldest  families  in  Great  Britain.  He  gained 
first-class  honors  at  Cambridge  and  has  been  Solicitor- 
General  (later,  1880,  he  was  Secretary  of  State  for  the 
Home  Department  and  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer, 
1885-86,  and  again,  1892-95). 

At  the  dinner  Sir  William  spoke  of  his  desire  to  see 
entail  abolished  in  England.  I  told  him  that  in  America, 
where  we  have  no  entail,  it  was  not  at  all  uncommon  for 


32      HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

people  to  want  it  reestablished  in  order  to  hold  the 
old  family  heirlooms  together  and  to  keep  up  large 
houses. 

He  had  discovered  a  flaw  in  the  bill  under  discussion, 
still  the  Agricultural  Holdings  Bill,  in  that  there  was 
nothing  to  prevent  collusion  between  the  tenant  for  life 
and  the  lessee  to  charge  the  estate  with  more  than  the 
real  value  of  improvements.  That  defect  he  had  reme- 
died, but  it  had  led  him  to  say  that  the  defect  was  just 
what  he  wished  to  see  exist,  for  it  would  furnish  a  means 
of  killing  an  entail.  This  Agricultural  Holdings  Bill 
receives  the  support  of  the  tenants  as  they  think  it  will 
benefit  them,  while  the  landlords  are  mollified  by  ex- 
plaining in  turn  to  them  that  there  is  nothing  to  pre- 
vent writing  clauses  into  a  lease  which  would  deprive 
the  tenant  of  any  of  the  advantages  of  the  bill,  because 
the  bill  is  permissive  and  not  mandatory,  and  the  land- 
lords feel  that  in  the  present  demand  for  real  estate 
they  can  get  the  tenants  to  accept  such  clauses. 

I  have  not  so  far  mentioned  that  in  the  House  of 
Commons  the  members  wear  their  tall  silk  hats  except 
when  addressing  the  House.  You  sometimes  see  these 
hats  pulled  over  their  eyes,  and  whether  they  are  sleep- 
ing or  pondering  over  debate  is  a  matter  only  of  con- 
jecture. They  do  not  wear  gloves  as  they  did  when  my 
great-uncle,  Edmund  Dana,  was  present  about  1801. 

Friday,  July  23 

Lunched  at  Spencer  House  again,  where  were  Lord  and 
Lady  Spencer  and  Lord  Charles  Bruce,  M.P.,  son  of  the 
Marquis  of  Ailesbury.  Lord  Charles  had  married  a 
sister  of  Lady  Spencer.  After  lunch  Spencer,  his  brother- 
in-law  and  I  drove  to  Wimbledon  to  see  the  military 
camp,  target-shooting,  and  manoeuvres.    On  the  way 


RIFLE  CONTESTS  AT  WIMBLEDON  S3 

we  met,  driving  in  her  landau,  and  had  a  bow  from  the 
handsome  and  stately  Princess  Alexandra  of  Wales. 
Spencer  told  me  she  was  somewhat  deaf.  We  wit- 
nessed the  1000-  and  1100-yard  rifle  contests,  and  saw 
three  of  the  American  team  which  had  just  won  the 
International  Rifle  Match. 

We  watched  the  cavalry  shooting,  which  was  done  in 
squads  of  four.  These  squads  had  to  mount,  gallop  off, 
jump  two  hurdles,  dismount,  fire  five  shots  apiece  at 
200  yards  distance,  mount,  ride  farther  on,  and  dis- 
mount again  for  400-yard  shots.  I  saw  two  pretty  bad 
spills,  but  no  one  seriously  injured.  I  was  introduced  to 
several  distinguished  persons,  some  of  them  of  title,  but 
with  my  bad  memory  for  names  and  meeting  so  many 
persons  unexpectedly  at  once,  I  do  not  recaU  the  names 
as  I  am  writing  this  journal  later  in  the  evening. 

I  saw  there  a  wonderful  "buU's-eye"  made  by  Queen 
Victoria  at  1000  yards,  and  asked  how  it  was  possible 
for  her  to  shoot  so  well,  having  my  suspicions,  however, 
which  were  verified  when  Spencer  explained  to  me  that 
the  rifle  was  set  in  a  vice,  the  wind  tested,  the  rifle  fired 
several  times  until  it  was  exactly  adjusted,  and  then  a 
silken  cord  was  tied  at  one  end  to  the  trigger  and  the 
other  end  the  Queen  pulled. 

Spencer  gave  an  illustration  of  his  dignity  and  tact. 
He  was  either  the  head  or  one  of  the  head  directors 
of  the  Wimbledon  Encampment.  We  were  standing 
inside  the  lines  and  a  captain  came  up  and  ordered  us 
back.  Instead  of  ignominiously  retiring,  on  the  one 
hand,  or  asserting  his  authority,  on  the  other,  he  talked 
to  this  captain  about  some  of  the  arrangements  so  that 
it  began  to  dawn  on  the  captain's  mind  that  he  was 
talking  with  one  of  the  chief  directors,  and  then  Spencer 
graciously  said,  "Perhaps  it  is  better  for  us  to  retire 


34      HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

within  the  lines  and  set  a  good  example  to  the  others." 
And  with  composure  and  calm  we  walked  slowly  back. 

We  drove  through  Richmond  Park  to  Pembroke 
Lodge,  the  suburban  home  of  Earl  Russell,  formerly 
and  better  known  to  us  as  Lord  John  Russell.  Spencer 
had  written  to  have  them  ask  me  to  dinner  (this  was 
before  the  days  of  telephones) .  I  accepted,  but  he  him- 
self could  not  stay  on  account  of  other  engagements. 
After  the  ladies  had  left  the  table  I  got  up  and  sat  next 
to  Lord  Russell.  He  was  in  his  eighty-third  year.  At 
first  he  seemed  somewhat  absent  and  ignored  my  pres- 
ence, but  soon  he  fell  to  talking  and  I  enjoyed  him  im- 
mensely. We  had  several  people  beside  the  family,  two 
young  members  of  Parliament  among  them. 

Lord  John  Russell,  born  in  1792,  was  prominent  in 
politics  as  far  back  as  the  reign  of  George  IV,  was  pay- 
master of  the  forces  in  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of 
William  IV,  during  which  reign  he  was  also  Secretary  of 
State  for  the  Home  Department,  so  his  memory  of  big 
events  goes  back  to  those  days  and  the  earliest  Vic- 
torian era.  His  voice  is  high-pitched  and  querulous, 
and  he  has  the  same  spare  figure,  small  stature,  large 
head  and  eyes  that  we  were  all  so  familiar  with  in  the 
London  "Punches."  He  talked  much,  easily,  and  in 
detail  about  things  that  were  known  to  me  only  in  out- 
line, and  the  topics  changed  so  rapidly  that  I  was  un- 
able to  make  a  good  report  of  all  he  said.  I  wished  I  had 
had  a  stenographer  behind  the  door  to  take  it  all  down. 
They  invited  me  to  come  Sunday  afternoon  and  spend 
the  night. 

I  returned  to  London  with  the  two  young  members  of 
Parliament,  who  took  me  with  them  into  the  House  of 
Commons,  and  I  saw  the  procedure  of  "complaints  on 
motion  to  go  into  committee  on  supplies."  The  House 


LORD    RUSSELL 

(FORMERLY    LORD    JOHN    RUSSELL) 
FROM   A    DRAWING  BY   G.    F.    WATTS 


PARLIAMENTARY  PROCEDURE  35 

of  Commons,  having  the  sole  power  over  supplies,  takes 
the  opportunity,  whenever  a  motion  is  made  to  bring  up 
a  question  of  supplies,  to  slander  the  Government  in 
every  way.  The  complaints  were  very  general  and  on  all 
sorts  of  matters.  It  is  customary  to  give  the  broadest 
license  at  these  times,  not  keeping  the  members  in  the 
slightest  degree  to  the  motion  or  to  any  of  the  items  of 
the  contemplated  appropriations.  One  of  these  mem- 
bers of  Parliament  who  took  me  in  was  a  young  Irish- 
man, and  knowing  that  I  wanted  to  see  all  the  procedure 
in  the  House  and  noticing  that  there  was  no  quorum 
present,  said:  "If  you  have  never  seen  it  before,  I  will 
call  the  Speaker's  attention  to  the  lack  of  quorum  and 
have  a  counting  out."  This  he  did  for  my  special  bene- 
fit. When  the  counting  began  there  were  only  thirty- 
eight,  but  one  zealous  member  dragged  in  three  of  his 
friends  so  as  to  bring  the  number  above  the  necessary 
forty  and  business  continued. 

Saturday,  July  24 

Dined  at  Mr.  Smalley's.  The  company  consisted  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smalley,  Mr.  Robinson,  and  Sir  William 
Frederick  and  Lady  Pollock.  Sir  William  Frederick 
Pollock  is  a  baronet.  George  W.  Smalley  has  been  for 
many  years  the  London  editorial  correspondent  of  the 
New  York  "Tribune."  He  is  now  in  the  prime  of  life, 
forty- two  years  of  age.  Sir  Frederick  Pollock  is  the  son 
of  the  celebrated  Sir  J.  Frederick  Pollock,  Bart.,  chief 
baron  of  the  Court  of  Exchequer,  who  rendered  the 
decisions  in  the  case  of  the  Laird  rams  so  hostile  to 
the  cause  of  the  North  in  the  Civil  War.  The  present 
Sir  Frederick  who  succeeded  his  father  five  years  ago, 
seems  to  have  no  hostility  towards  America,  but  rather 
a  friendly  feeling.   He  is  a  Queen's  remembrancer,  has 


36      HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

translated  Dante's  "Divina  Commedia,"  and  has  re- 
cently been  made  one  of  the  judges  of  the  Court  of 
Admiralty.  He  was  very  kind,  and  not  only  offered  to 
show  me  the  courts,  but  also  invited  me  to  dinner  five 
days  hence. 

Smalley  asked  me  many  questions  about  affairs  at 
home,  but  I  believed  he  was  far  better  informed  than  I 
on  the  present  state  of  politics  in  America.  We  talked 
about  the  disappointment  in  the  character  and  ability 
of  Grant's  cabinet,  all  except  Fish,  the  Secretary  of 
State,  who  was  both  able  and  high-minded;  and  on  the 
unsettled  conditions  in  the  South. 

Sir  Frederick  Pollock  begins  his  sentences  at  very 
high  pitch  with  a  sort  of  squeak  or  whine  and  grad- 
ually comes  down  lower  and  lower;  but  when  he  is 
thoroughly  interested  in  his  subject  and  gets  well  going, 
he  gives  up  this  descent  from  high  to  low  and  goes  on  in 
a  delightful,  rich,  and  natural  voice. 

Sunday,  July  25 

Went  to  the  Inner  Temple  in  the  morning  on  a  pass 
from  Sir  Robert  Phillimore.  Dr.  Vaughan  preached  the 
best  sermon  I  ever  heard.  Considering  the  great  repu- 
tation of  the  Temple  choir,  sometimes  thought  to  be 
the  best  in  Great  Britain,  I  was  a  little  disappointed. 
The  anthem  was  a  long  duet  for  baritone  and  tenor. 

Lunched  with  Mr.  Ferguson  at  the  Devonshire  Club 
and  went  with  him  for  coffee  to  the  Reform  Club.  In 
the  latter  it  is  against  the  rule  to  have  strangers  in  any 
part  of  the  club  but  a  small  waiting-room  and  we  were 
sitting  in  the  large  reading-room.  The  waiter  would 
bring  but  one  cup  of  coffee,  which  Mr.  Ferguson  insisted 
upon  my  taking  while  he  smoked.  Most  of  the  great 
London  clubs  are  what  we  should  consider  very  un- 


DINNER  WITH  EARL  RUSSELL  37 

sociable.  Those  clubs  which  allow  visitors  only  admit 
them  into  the  Strangers'  Room,  which  is  unusually 
small,  unless  the  strangers  are  armed  with  a  special 
invitation  from  the  governing  committee,  which  I  had 
not  then  received. 

Sir  John  Kennaway  one  day  took  me  all  over  Carlton 
Club,  the  great  Tory  institution,  but  said  it  was  against 
the  rule  for  him  to  do  so,  and  he  did  not  like  to  have 
me  stay  long  in  any  of  the  rooms,  and  in  the  end  I  had  to 
sit  on  a  bench  in  the  hall,  doing  nothing,  while  he  was 
attending  to  some  committee  matter. 

Later  on  this  Sunday  afternoon  I  went  again  to  Pem- 
broke Lodge,  Richmond,  Earl  Russell's,  and  was  most 
kindly  received.  A  dinner  of  all  the  family  excepting 
the  eldest  son.  Lord  Ajnberley,  who  is  away  and  is  in 
mourning  for  his  wife  who  died  a  year  ago.  (He  died 
the  very  next  year.)  The  other  guests  were  Admiral 
Elliot,  who  is  Lady  Russell's  brother,  his  wife.  Lady 
Harriet  Emily,  and  their  son.  (This  Honorable  Sir 
Charles  Gilbert  Elliot  in  1881  was  made  admiral  of  the 
combined  British  fleet.)  Lady  Harriet  is  a  daughter 
of  the  Earl  of  Ravensworth.  After  the  ladies  had  left 
the  dining-room.  Earl  Russell  called  me  to  sit  down  by 
his  side.  This  especially  pleased  me,  for  I  was  afraid  I 
had  been  a  little  too  forward,  for  so  young  a  man,  in 
sitting  by  him  last  Friday  night  without  an  invitation 
to  do  so.  We  talked  much  about  the  present,  past,  and 
future  of  England  and  America.  Russell  said  he  thought 
George  Washington  was  "  the  greatest  man  of  the  age." 
He  asked  me  who  I  thought  would  be  the  next  President 
of  the  United  States.  I  said,  "Not  Grant."  We  agreed 
in  hoping  it  might  be  Charles  Francis  Adams,  but  did 
not  think  it  likely.  I  said  it  was  not  likely  unless  the 
Republican  Party  would  nominate  him  to  secure  some 


88      HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

of  the  independent  Democrats  and  those  who  were  in- 
chned  to  Democracy  on  account  of  their  opposition  to 
the  machine  methods  of  the  Repubhcan  Party,  and 
possibly  to  gain  some  of  the  Border  State  votes.  Russell 
said  he  saw  Senator  John  Sherman  and  liked  him,  and 
should  think  that  he  would  make  a  good  President. 

In  the  evening  Lady  Harriet  Elliot  and  I  sang  some 
hymns,  and  our  voices  went  very  well  together,  I  sing- 
ing a  sort  of  alto-bass.  Lady  Russell  showed  me  her 
book  with  many  valuable  autograph  letters,  pointing 
out  one  from  Herbert  Spencer  which  was  extremely 
faulty,  notwithstanding  his  essay  on  the  "Philosophy 
of  Style,"  as  I  think  it  is  called.  There  was  one  from 
Queen  Victoria  in  her  own  hand  and  of  her  own  com- 
position, which  was  very  interesting,  but  full  of  mis- 
takes. One  sentence  began  in  the  third  person  and  went 
on  in  the  second,  for  example,  and  the  spelling  was 
atrocious. 

Lady  Russell,  who  has  been  lady-in-waiting  on  the 
Queen  and  very  familiar  with  her,  told  me  that  in  pri- 
vate the  royal  family  always  speak  in  the  German 
language. 

Monday,  July  26 

Pembroke  Lodge,  Richmond.  Breakfasted  at  nine 
o'clock.  Took  a  short  walk  about  the  grounds  before 
breakfast  and  wished  at  the  Wishing  Tree  (a  wish  which 
has  since  come  true)  and  was  greeted  by  Lady  Russell 
from  her  window  on  my  return  to  the  house.  At  break- 
fast were  Lady  Russell  and  her  brother,  the  Admiral 
and  his  son,  a  boy  of  eight  or  nine,  Lady  Agatha  Russell, 
and  RoUo,  youngest  son  of  Earl  Russell.  The  breakfast, 
as  usual  in  England,  was  very  informal,  and  after  the 
servants  had  once  placed  the  food  on  the  sideboard  they 


COUNTESS    RUSSELL 

(FORMERLY    LADY   JOHN    RUSSELL) 
1884 


AT  PEMBROKE  LODGE  39 

disappeared  and  we  helped  ourselves  and  changed  our 
own  plates.  The  gentlemen  sometimes  waited  on  the 
ladies.  I  took  pleasure  in  doing  so  whenever  I  could, 
but  frequently  the  ladies  got  ahead  of  me  in  walking 
quickly  to  the  sideboard  and  serving  themselves. 

After  breakfast  I  began  a  pencil  and  chalk  sketch  of 
the  beautiful  view  in  front  of  the  house,  and  was  inter- 
rupted by  Lady  Russell,  who  kindly  took  me  to  drive 
with  Lady  Agatha  and  herself  round  Richmond  Park. 
This  was  a  beautiful  drive,  the  air  being  clear  and  brac- 
ing like  ours  at  home  and  not  as  sultry  and  damp  as 
usual  in  England  at  this  time,  and  I  felt  so  joyous  and 
happy  among  these  good,  sympathetic^  warm-hearted 
people  in  such  weather,  with  the  soft  green  grass,  gor- 
geous flowers,  and  superb  view.  I  saw  great  numbers 
of  quite  tame  deer,  which  the  Duke  of  Cambridge  hunts 
with  his  hounds  about  twice  a  year.  Came  back  at  eleven, 
finished  the  sketch,  and  made  one  of  the  house  itself. 

We  lunched  at  two.  The  party  was  the  same  as 
at  breakfast  with  the  addition  of  Lady  Harriet  Emily 
Elliot,  the  wife  of  the  admiral,  who  is  Lady  Russell's 
brother,  Lord  Russell  himself,  who  had  not  been  with 
us  at  breakfast,  and  a  young  man  from  Wimbledon. 
We  three  young  men  played  lawn  tennis,  the  first  time 
I  ever  took  part  in  this  game.  I  held  up  my  side  in 
doubles  and  singles,  too,  pretty  well  considering  that  the 
others  had  played  tennis  a  good  deal.  (In  those  days 
the  net  was  six  inches  higher  than  at  present  and  the 
service  was  underhand  so  that  the  play  was  not  then  as 
swift  as  it  is  now.  This  made  it  an  easier  game  for  a 
beginner  to  learn.) 

Walked  and  talked  and  sat  out  of  doors  with  Lady 
Russell  and  her  daughter,  Lady  Agatha.  Lady  Russell 
makes  a  most  admirable  hostess ;  she  keeps  the  con  versa- 


40      HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

tion  going  without  interfering,  guiding  it  by  responsive 
comment  or  question  and  only  leading  when  it  becomes 
necessary.  She  is  most  attentive  to  her  husband  and  his 
wants.  He,  of  course,  is  now  old  and  feeble,  and  while 
able  to  walk,  goes  about  a  good  deal  in  a  rolling  chair. 
Lady  Russell,  while  not  handsome,  has  a  most  sympa- 
thetic and  intellectual  expression  of  face.  Her  maiden 
name  was  Lady  Frances  Anna  Maria  Elliot,  and  she 
is  the  daughter  of  the  second  Earl  of  Minto.  She  was 
born  in  1815  and  married  in  1841.  She  is  the  mother  of 
Lord  Amberley  and  all  the  other  children  of  the  Earl. 
Lord  John's  first  wife  was  widow  of  Lord  Ribblesdale, 
and  she  died  without  leaving  children  in  1838.  (Lady 
Russell's  letters,  published  after  her  death,  show  a 
wonderful  interest  in  all  public  affairs,  knowledge  of 
persons  and  character,  a  deep  love  for  her  friends,  and 
keen  sympathy  for  all  in  need  of  it.)  Lady  Russell  in- 
vited me  to  come  again  on  Friday  next  to  dine  and  spend 
the  night  and  stay  till  Monday  morning  if  possible. 
On  leaving  was  driven  to  the  station  in  a  pony  carriage 
and  got  to  my  rooms  in  time  to  prepare  for  a  dinner  at 
Lord  Frederick  Cavendish's  at  exactly  seven  o'clock. 
I  met  there  Lord  and  Lady  Edward  Cavendish  (whose 
son  is  now  the  Duke  of  Devonshire),  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Gladstone,  and  Lady  Lyttelton,  stepmother  of  Lady 
Frederick,  Lady  Frederick  being  the  daughter  of  Lord 
Lyttelton  by  his  first  wife,  who  was  a  sister  of  Mrs. 
Gladstone,  so  that  Lady  Frederick  is  Mrs.  Gladstone's 
niece.  We  had  a  rather  hurried  dinner  and  went  to  the 
theatre  at  eight. 

Almost  the  whole  talk  at  the  dinner  was  about  the 
wedding  presents  for  Gladstone's  eldest  son,  who,  as  I 
have  already  stated,  was  lately  engaged  and  is  soon  to 
be  married. 


TO  THE  THEATRE  WITH  GLADSTONE  41 

All  of  us  but  Lord  Frederick  and  Mrs.  Gladstone  went 
to  the  Prince  of  Wales  Theatre  and  saw  the  play  of 
"Money,"  by  Lord  Lytton.  Going  to  the  theatre  Mr. 
Gladstone  rode  on  the  outside  of  the  carriage  to  direct 
the  driver.  George  Honey  took  the  part  of  Mr.  Graves, 
Miss  Marie  Wilton  that  of  Lady  Franklin,  capitally 
done,  and  Ellen  Terry  that  of  Clara  Douglas,  and  acted, 
of  course,  charmingly.  Between  the  parts  I  went  to  see 
Earl  Spencer  and  his  beautiful  wife,  whom  I  had  noticed 
in  another  part  of  the  theatre.  Spencer  gave  up  his 
seat  to  me  and  went  to  speak  with  our  party,  and  in  this 
way  we  sat  for  one  scene  and  then  changed  back  again 
just  as  the  curtain  rose  for  the  scene  following. 

On  the  way  home  Gladstone  insisted  on  walking  for 
exercise,  and  had  I  known  at  the  time  that  the  ladies 
had  a  manservant  with  them  (for  they  had  to  take  a 
cab)  I  should  have  walked  with  Gladstone  myself,  but 
thought  it  was  my  duty  to  escort  the  ladies.  We  had 
late  evening  tea  at  Lady  Frederick's,  Mr.  Gladstone 
joinmg  us  soon  after  our  arrival.  The  talk  was  of  the 
stage  as  a  profession  and  whether  it  is  one  an  educated 
person  of  good  family  should  follow  or  not,  on  which 
there  was  a  division  of  opinion.  Gladstone,  during  the 
tea  and  also  in  some  of  the  intervals  during  the  play, 
was  immensely  absorbed  in  the  topic  of  the  various  ac- 
tors, how  they  did  their  parts,  of  the  play  itself,  and  how 
it  might  have  been  improved  by  one  alteration  or  an- 
other. 

He  was  surprised  to  hear  that  in  Massachusetts  we 
had  a  large  surplus  of  women  and  that  women's  work  as 
seamstress  and  the  like  was  badly  paid.  He  said  in 
Wales  there  were  no  murders,  that  the  Welsh  people 
were  very  kindly,  fond  of  music,  and  sang  much  in 
choruses.  The  party  broke  up  at  twelve.  They  took  me 


42      HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

into  the  family  as  if  I  were  a  relative  or  at  least  a  friend 
of  long  standing. 

Tuesday,  July  27 

Took  a  long  walk  in  the  morning  for  exercise,  of  which 
I  have  had  only  too  little  in  this  London  social  life,  and 
dined  with  Dr.  Charles  H.  Williams,  Harvard  '71,  and 
his  classmate,  Horace  D.  Cliapin,  both  of  Boston.  They 
took  me  to  the  Holborn  Restaurant  and  to  their  rooms 
afterwards.  They  gave  some  amusing  anecdotes  of  their 
travels  and  spoke  of  the  low  standards  of  the  Germans, 
especially  the  Austrians  —  for  they  had  been  long  in 
Vienna  —  in  regard  to  women  and  how  much  higher 
were  the  ideals  of  American  young  men,  at  least  of 
those  we  knew.  Charles  Williams  goes  to  the  hospital 
in  London  every  day  and  says  the  nursing  and  general 
care  of  patients  is  not  as  good  here  as  in  the  Massachu- 
setts General  Hospital  in  Boston. 

This  was  the  first  evening  I  had  not  been  invited  to 
dine  with  English  friends  and  for  some  single  evenings 
I  have  had  two  and  in  one  case  even  three  invitations. 

Wednesday,  July  28 

Called  on  Lord  Tenterden  at  the  Foreign  Office  in  the 
morning,  but  found  he  was  out  and  had  to  satisfy  myself 
with  leaving  a  card.  After  lunch  I  called  on  the  follow- 
ing: Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gladstone,  who  were  both  out,  and 
Lord  and  Lady  Frederick  Cavendish.  Lady  Frederick 
was  in  and  I  found  a  Miss  Smith  calling.  I  made  a 
rather  short  but  very  agreeable  visit.  The  fire  was  low 
and  Lady  Frederick  called  for  a  servant  to  replenish  it; 
but  as  it  happened,  the  servant  whose  duty  it  was  to 
look  after  the  fires  was  away,  and  though  there  were 
several  other  servants  at  hand  in  the  house,  both  foot- 


LORD  RUSSELL'S  OVERCOAT  43 

men  and  maids,  she  said  she  could  not  ask  them  to  do 
this  simple  task;  so  I  did  it  for  her  —  a  very  small  mat- 
ter, indeed,  but  illustrating  how  amusingly  and  fantas- 
tically the  work  among  the  really  admirable  and  civil 
domestics  in  Great  Britain  is  divided. 

I  next  called  on  Mr.  Robert  Ferguson,  who  said  he 
would  give  me  a  letter  to  his  brother-in-law  in  Birming- 
ham. Next  I  called  at  Spencer  House,  where  I  found 
Lady  Spencer  and  her  brother-in-law,  Lord  Charles 
Bruce.  Spencer  himself  had  just  gone  out  driving. 
We  spoke  of  the  play  the  night  before  and  the  injustice 
that  is  done  noblemen  in  such  comedies,  as  a  bit  of  mere 
claptrap  and  play  to  the  galleries,  or  "groundlings"  as 
they  used  to  say  in  Shakespeare's  days,  and  of  the  real 
worth  and  value  of  many  noblemen  in  English  life, 
politics,  and  constructive  legislation.  Called  at  Sir 
Robert  Phillimore's,  where  all  were  out.  Next  at  Dr. 
Jones's,  where  they  made  me  sing  a  negro  melody.  At 
Sir  John  Kennaway's  I  found  Lady  Kennaway  in.  She 
was  very  cordial  and  sang  me  a  Scottish  song,  "The 
Auld  Home,"  and  hoped  I  could  arrange  my  time  so  as 
to  visit  them  in  their  Devonshire  home  (a  really  mag- 
nificent castle)  at  Ottery  St.  Mary.  The  Smalleys  were 
out  of  town,  and  here  ended  my  calls  for  the  after- 
noon. 

During  the  day  Lord  Russell's  servant  appeared  with 
my  overcoat,  and  it  turned  out  that  I  had  taken  "My 
Lord's"  by  mistake  and  had  been  wearing  it  all  day. 
It  was  rather  strange  that  it  fitted  me  at  all,  for  he  is  so 
much  smaller  than  I.  It  must  be  very  loose  for  him.  I 
felt  it  was  no  little  honor  to  have  worn  the  coat  of  such 
a  man.  It  might  have  been  an  omen  that  by  chance  the 
mantle  of  the  greatest  of  surviving  statesmen  of  his  day 
should  have  fallen  on  me,  like  that  of  Elijah  on  Elisha, 


44      HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

only  in  this  case  the  mantle  had  to  be  returned,  which  I 
feared  was  an  omen  the  other  way. 

Dined  in  the  evening  at  the  Devonshire  Club  with 
Sir  William  Vernon  Harcourt.  He  got  up  this  dinner  ex- 
pressly for  me  and  I  sat  at  his  right.  There  were  alto- 
gether fourteen  gentlemen  beside  myself,  and  among 
them  Lord  Young,  Lord  Advocate  of  Scotland;  Mr. 
Mayne,  the  author  of  "Ancient  Law";  Lord  Dalkeith, 
eldest  son  and  heir  of  the  Duke  of  Buccleugh,  who  sat 
on  Sir  William's  left;  young  Lord  George  Hamilton, 
member  of  Parliament  and  under-secretary  for  India, 
son  of  the  Duke  of  Abercorn  and  a  Tory,  and  on  the 
opposite  side  in  politics  from  Sir  William  (afterwards 
First  Lord  of  the  Admiralty,  Secretary  of  State  for 
India,  and  author  of  "Parliamentary  Reminiscences, 
1916");  Millais,  the  artist;  and  others,  all  fourteen  be- 
ing distinguished.  Millais  is  very  handsome  except  for 
a  defect  in  one  eyelid,  and  is  brilliant.  He  talked  too 
much  and  too  loud.  His  voice  seemed  charging  up  and 
down  the  table  like  a  troop  of  cavalry.  He  told  many 
anecdotes  of  Lord  Byron,  which  he  had  picked  up,  and 
some  of  them  were  rather  "spicy."  The  talk  drifted  on 
to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  about  which 
they  asked  me  some  questions.  I  explained  that  the 
Federation  under  which  we  carried  on  the  Revolutionary 
War  was  a  combination  of  States.  It  worked  through  a 
Continental  Congress,  but  provided  no  executive  and 
no  federal  courts,  while  the  Constitution,  adopted  in 
1788,  after  the  Federation  had  proved  such  a  failure, 
was  not  an  agreement  between  States,  but  of  the 
"people"  of  the  whole  country,  beginning,  "We,  the 
people  of  the  United  States,  in  order  to  form  a  more 
perfect  union  ...  do  ordain  and  establish  this  Constitu- 
tion." 


SECESSION  AND  THE  CONSTITUTION  45 

The  Constitution  provides  a  Supreme  Court  for  the 
whole  nation  with  power  to  decide  state  legislation  un- 
constitutional, thereby  nullifying  state  acts  contrary 
to  its  provisions;  also  to  decide  questions  between 
States,  and  with  power  through  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  the  United  States  marshals,  and  a  fed- 
eral army,  to  enforce  its  decrees.  Under  the  Federation, 
secession  was  probably  legal,  but  under  the  Constitu- 
tion it  is  hard  to  see  how  it  is  possible  constitutionally 
and  legally  for  a  State  to  secede.  The  question  of  the 
right  of  secession,  however,  is  to  be  clearly  distinguished 
from  a  moral  right  to  organize  a  revolution,  but  the 
Southern  States  did  not  claim  that  they  were  revolting; 
they  claimed  the  right  of  secession  as  constitutional. 
This  seemed  new  to  them  all  excepting  Sir  William, 
who  has  been  in  the  United  States,  knows  more  of  our 
system,  and,  under  the  title  of  "Historicus,"  wrote 
some  famous  articles  in  the  London  "Times"  in  the 
early  part  of  the  Civil  War,  in  opposition  to  the  recog- 
nition by  Great  Britain  of  the  Southern  States  as  bellig- 
erents. 

During  the  coffee  and  smoking,  after  we  left  the 
table,  three  of  the  company  who  were  members  of 
Parliament  —  one  of  them  a  government  whip  —  took 
me  aside  and  urged  me  to  stay  on  in  England,  give  up 
my  own  country,  and  run  for  Parliament.  They  were 
sure  they  could  secure  me  a  seat.  They  said  persons  of 
education  were  not  appreciated  in  American  politics, 
instancing  the  cases  of  my  father,  Charles  Francis 
Adams,  and  others,  and  set  forth  what  a  fine  career 
it  was  for  a  man  in  the  English  Parliament.  Notwith- 
standing this  very  flattering  suggestion,  perhaps  slightly 
colored  by  the  delicious  dinner  and  varied  wines,  I  told 
them  that  I  loved  my  own  country,  and  in  so  far  as  it 


46      HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

was  defective  I  hoped  to  help  in  setting  it  right,  at  least 
to  do  my  little  part,  and  that  especially,  as  in  such 
matters  as  abolishing  the  spoils  system  and  establishing 
civil  service  reform,  I  felt  there  was  much  work  that 
could  be  done  outside  of  legislative  positions. 

After  smoking  and  talking  in  the  Devonshire  Club, 
some  of  us  adjourned  to  the  Cosmopolitan  Club,  where 
public  and  literary  leaders  gather  late  Wednesday  and 
Saturday  nights  and  where  a  lot  of  present  politics  and 
old  political  scandals  were  discussed.  I  met  and  shook 
hands  with  Anthony  Trollope,  the  author.  He  spoke 
very  pleasantly  of  my  father  and  mother,  whom  he  had 
met  on  the  Continent  lately,  and  of  the  many  good  talks 
they  had  had  together.  Lord  Young,  Lord  Advocate  of 
Scotland,  was  most  kind  to  me,  and  insisted  upon  it 
that  I  must  not  fail  to  look  him  up  when  I  go  to  Edin- 
burgh. He  tells  many  funny  stories,  and  by  way  of  an 
exception  which  proves  the  rule,  though  a  Scotchman, 
has  a  keen  sense  of  humor  and  wit  of  his  own,  and  is 
quick  to  catch  the  points  in  stories  told  by  others. 

Harcourt  invited  me  to  the  House  of  Commons  to 
hear  the  Plimsoll  settlement  or  apology  or  whatever  it 
might  turn  out  to  be,  which  is  to  take  place  to-morrow. 
The  general  opinion  in  the  club  seemed  to  be  that 
Plimsoll  intended  to  create  a  sensation  and  even  con- 
templated being  put  into  confinement.  He  certainly  did 
succeed  in  creating  a  great  deal  more  sympathy  from 
his  disorderly  conduct  than  he  could  have  aroused  in 
any  other  way.  It  was,  however,  clearly  not  all  of  it 
acting;  he  was  really  very  much  excited.  The  truth 
probably  lies  between  the  two  extremes.  He  was  doubt- 
less greatly  worked  up,  took  advantage  of  his  oppor- 
tunity, and  let  his  passion  have  pretty  full  sway. 
Disraeli  intimated,  but  avoided  directly  asserting  it. 


PLIMSOLL  AND  HIS  BILL  47 

that  he  allowed  all  this  scene  to  come  off  so  as  to  secure 
the  public  backing  outside  necessary  to  enable  him  to 
pass  the  bill  inside  the  House  of  Commons.  Many 
doubted  the  truth  of  this  intimation  and  believed  it  to 
be  but  an  adroit  way  of  turning  an  actual  blunder  to 
his  own  benefit.  I  believed  it  was  nothing  but  a  bit  of 
"Dizzy's"  humor.  (The  main  part  of  Plimsoll's  bill 
passed  this  session  and  was  perfected  the  next,  in  1876.) 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  LAST  OF  MY  FIRST  LONDON  SEASON 

Thursday,  July  29 

Went  to  Westminster  Abbey  and  spent  two  hours 
there  about  noon.  After  lunch  went  to  the  House  of 
Commons  by  Sir  WilHam  Vernon  Harcourt's  invitation, 
to  hear  PHmsoU's  apology.  Sir  William  came  out  and 
took  me  into  the  inner  lobby,  but  there  we  found  every 
place  occupied.  The  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Commons 
said  he  would  put  me  into  the  Diplomatic  Gallery,  but 
even  that  was  full;  so  as  I  should  have  to  wait  until  a 
vacancy  appeared  somewhere,  which  might  not  occur 
until  the  interesting  part  of  the  session  was  over,  I, 
after  an  hour's  waiting,  sent  in  my  card  asking  Sir 
William  not  to  trouble  himself  any  more,  and  then  took 
a  ride  up  the  river  in  a  steamer  as  far  as  Chelsea  and 
got  back  in  time  to  dress  for  dinner  at  Sir  William 
Frederick  Pollock's. 

There  were  present  Sir  William  Frederick  and  Lady 
Pollock,  both  very  cordial  and  agreeable,  Lady  Pollock 
with  a  literary  reputation,  also  his  son  Frederick 
Pollock  (later  Sir  Frederick  Pollock,  Bart.,  in  his  turn, 
the  celebrated  legal  authority,  lecturer,  etc.).  Every- 
where I  go  my  father's  name  is  a  remarkably  good  in- 
troduction. I  had  no  letter  to  the  Pollocks.  I  had  met 
him  at  Smalley's.  Sir  William  said  that  he  found  in  his 
work  as  Judge  of  the  Admiralty  Courts  my  father's 
"Seaman's  Manual"  was  perfectly  invaluable,  and  he 
kept  it  by  him  in  and  out  of  court.  It  is  the  stand- 
ard authority,  he  said,  and  of  course  he  had  read 
"Two  Years  Before  the  Mast."    The  evening  passed 


PEMBROKE  LODGE  49 

very  pleasantly.  The  Plimsoll  matter  turned  out  very 
quietly,  "a  tame  affair"  as  they  called  it,  ending  in  an 
apology  for  misconduct,  but  adherence  to  all  the  facts 
as  he  had  stated  them,  so  I  did  not  lose  very  much  after 
all  in  not  being  present. 

Friday,  July  30 

I  CALLED  on  the  Honorable  Arthur  Kinnaird  at  the 
bank.  He  was  apparently  busy,  so  I  only  thanked  him 
for  his  kindness  and  delivered  a  letter  of  introduction 
to  him  which  I  had  just  received  from  Lord  Kinnaird, 
although  this  letter  was  unnecessary.  Edmund  Dana, 
the  only  brother  of  Judge  Francis  Dana,  my  great- 
grandfather, went  to  England,  became  a  clergyman  of 
the  Established  Church  there  and  married  a  daughter 
of  the  then  Lord  Kinnaird,  so  the  family  have  always 
taken  us  as  in  a  way  connected  with  them. 
I  Afterwards  I  looked  at  some  fine  old  carved  furniture 
which  I  stumbled  upon  by  accident  in  a  quaint  shop. 
It  had  been  bought  at  various  auctions  or  private  sales 
from  some  of  the  best  families  and  was  wonderfully 
cheap. 

This  morning  I  received  a  short  note  from  Mr.  Glad- 
stone, so  that  I  am  a  proud  possessor  of  an  autograph 
letter  of  his  addressed  to  me. 

Afterwards  left  London  at  the  end  of  the  day  for 
Richmond,  and  when  I  arrived  at  Pembroke  Lodge  I 
found  the  Countess  on  the  bowling  green  with  some 
callers,  among  whom  was  Lord  Colin  Campbell,  the 
youngest  son  of  the  Duke  of  Argyll,  whom  I  had  met 
at  Lord  Frederick  Cavendish's.  RoUo  and  Colin  played 
several  games  of  tennis  while  we  watched  them,  drank 
tea,  and  afterwards  walked  to  see  the  views.  I  stood  on 
the  mound  from  which  Henry  VIII's  messenger  saw  the 


50      HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

rockets  sent  off  from  the  Tower  of  London  on  the  execu- 
tion of  Anne  Boleyn,  while  the  King  himself  was  wait- 
ing in  a  house  near  by.  The  vista  is  still  kept  open,  but 
it  is  seldom  clear  enough  to  see  the  tower  through  the 
smoky  London  air  of  to-day.  Soon  there  arrived  Lord 
and  Lady  Selborne  and  their  daughter  and  Lord  and 
Lady  Cardwell.  These,  with  Colin  Campbell,  a  stran- 
ger who  left  immediately  after  dinner.  Lord  and  Lady 
Russell,  Lady  Agatha,  and  Rollo,  made  up  the  company 
at  dinner.  (Rollo  Russell  later  became  distinguished 
as  a  scientist,  specializing  in  meteorology  and  still  later 
in  aeroplane  work.  He  died  in  the  early  part  of  the 
Great  War  and  during  his  life  published  many  valuable 
treatises.  See  "Who's  Who,"  1914.) 

\Miile  it  is  not  common  to  introduce  people  in  Eng- 
land, you  are  always  at  liberty  to  talk  with  any  one  who 
is  a  guest  of  your  host,  though  I  found  they  frequently 
made  an  exception  in  my  case,  and  did  introduce,  I 
being  a  stranger  from  America.  If  the  name  of  a  guest 
does  not  come  out  in  the  course  of  the  conversation,  the 
usual  custom  is  to  inquire  of  the  butler,  who  always 
knows.  At  this  dinner  I  sat  between  Lady  Cardwell, 
who  was  on  Lord  Russell's  right,  and  Lady  Agatha, 
who  was  next  to  Lord  Selborne,  so  I  heard  the  best 
of  the  conversation.  They  spoke  of  a  wonderful  dog, 
about  which  I  have  read  in  the  papers  while  here.  It 
is  now  being  exhibited  and  seems  to  have  an  almost 
human  intelligence.  This  led  to  a  little  talk  with  Lord 
Selborne  on  animals,  instinct,  idealism,  and  the  nature 
of  matter,  in  which,  from  my  interest  in  philosophy,  I 
took  an  active  part.  They  spoke  of  spirit  photography, 
which  seemed  to  mystify  them.  I  told  them  some  stories 
about  it  and  explained  two  processes  by  which  spirit 
photography  could  be  easily  and  cheaply  produced. 


LORD  RUSSELL'S  CONVERSATION  51 

Very  few  of  the  English  educated  men  know  about 
chemistry  or  the  action  of  hght  or  science  generally. 
Science  is  only  just  beginning  to  be  taught  at  Cam- 
bridge and  hardly  at  all  at  Oxford. 

After  the  ladies  left  the  room  Lord  Russell  called 
Lord  Selborne  to  his  right  and  I  sat  next  to  him  and 
Lord  Cardwell  on  Russell's  left.  They  got  talking  about 
old  politics.  From  what  Lord  Russell  said,  it  is  to  be 
inferred  that  the  "Greville  Papers  "^  were  true  about 
William  IV  and  George  IV.  Many  interesting  anecdotes 
they  told  of  Lord  Brougham,  one  about  his  going  to 
sleep  through  an  able  argument  of  an  hour  and  a  half 
to  have  a  decision  reversed.  Brougham  woke  up  at  the 
end,  saying,  "The  decision  is  confirmed." 

Lord  Russell  said  that  William  IV  was  very  good- 
natured,  easy-going,  and  pleasant,  but  that  he  liked  to 
play  the  king  at  times,  especially  if  his  companions 
treated  him  too  famiharly;  that  he  was  fond  of  a  "jaw," 
and  sometimes  said  things  at  Windsor  worse  than  any 
one  would  like  to  repeat.  This  was  all  pretty  well  known 
in  history  and  has  been  enlarged  on  by  Thackeray. 
Russell  only  confirmed  it.  The  general  society  of  the 
Court  was,  as  Lord  Russell  put  it,  about  on  a  level  with 
a  dancing-hall  barroom. 

Lord  Selborne  told  a  story  of  how  a  Frenchman  who 
knew  Lord  Brougham's  reputation  for  being  so  great  a 
judge,  and  who,  in  trying  a  case  before  him,  suddenly 
discovered  that  his  lordship  was  asleep,  said  in  astonish- 
ment, "Mon  Dieu!  II  dort." 

Lord  Russell  gave  an  account  of  the  intemperance 
existing  in  London  society  during  his  younger  days.  He 

*  Extracts  from  the  journals  of  Charles  Cavendish  Fulke  Greville 
(1794-18G5),  great-grandson  of  the  fifth  Earl  of  Warwick,  and  clerk  of  the 
Council  in  Ordinary,  havmg  intercourse  with  royalty  and  the  chiefs  of  all 
parties. 


52      HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

said  that  when  the  ladies  left  the  dining-room  the  host 
would  arise,  lock  the  door,  fresh  bottles  of  port  would  be 
brought  in,  and  almost  every  man  drank  until  he  was 
under  the  table.  With  the  exception  of  one  or  two  men 
who  kept  sober,  they  never  joined  the  ladies  again,  and 
a  page,  towards  the  end  of  the  drinking,  as  the  men 
slipped  from  their  seats,  would  loosen  the  neck-cloths 
of  the  prostrate  guests,  and  it  was  a  regular  custom  for 
the  valets  to  come  in,  carry  out  their  masters,  put  them 
in  their  coaches,  and  escort  them  home.  Lord  Russell 
said  some  curious  incidents  arose  when  some  of  the 
valets  were  not  themselves  sober  and  substitutes  had  to 
take  their  places,  and  some  of  the  masters  were  put 
into  the  wrong  coaches  and  carried  to  the  wrong  houses 
about  midnight  or  later,  much  to  the  astonishment  of 
the  wives  and  other  members  of  the  households.  The 
recollection  seemed  very  vivid  and  Russell  chuckled 
over  the  memory.  Whether  he  actually  saw  these  in- 
cidents or  only  heard  of  them,  he  did  not  say. 

Lady  Cardwell  and  Lord  Selborne  both  urged  me  to 
let  them  know  when  I  come  back  to  London  next  year, 
as  I  plan  to  do,  so  they  may  invite  me  to  dinner.  They 
are  soon  to  leave  town  and  I  am  full  of  engagements 
to  the  end  of  the  season,  when  grouse  shooting  begins, 
three  days  hence.  Lord  Selborne  said  to  me  of  Lord 
Brougham,  that  putting  a  powerful  leader  of  the  House 
of  Commons  into  the  House  of  Lords  was  like  cutting 
off  Samson's  locks.  I  knew  that  it  had  sometimes  been 
called  *' kicking  a  man  upstairs.'*  As  Lord  Selborne 
himself  had  been  Attorney-General,  as  Sir  Roundell 
Palmer,  and  was  himself  given  a  peerage  and  promoted 
to  the  Upper  House,  he  must  have  known  whereof  he 
was  talking,  and,  indeed,  probably  had  in  mind  his  own 
exclusion  from  active  statesmanship. 


KEW  GARDENS  53 

Lord  Cardwell  is  a  viscount,  created  such  only  a 
little  over  a  year  ago.  He  took  a  double  first  at  Oxford, 
was  called  to  the  Bar  in  1838,  has  been  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  President  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  etc.  He  was 
Chief  Secretary  of  Ireland  at  one  time  and  later  Secre- 
tary of  State  for  the  Colonies  from  1864  to  1866.  Again 
he  was  made  Secretary  of  State  for  War  and  has  been 
member  of  the  House  of  Commons  for  about  seventeen 
years. 

Saturday,  July  31 

Pembroke  Lodge.  Read  and  took  a  walk  in  the  park 
before  lunch.  Afterwards  drove  with  Lady  Agatha  and 
Rollo  to  Kew  Gardens.  The  outside  of  this  was  not  very 
different  from  our  Public  Gardens  in  Boston  excepting 
for  its  larger  size  and  the  superb  foliage  of  the  big  trees. 
The  conservatories,  however,  were  beyond  anything  I 
have  ever  witnessed.  I  saw  for  the  first  time  the  Venus 
Fly  Trap,  a  plant  which  catches,  closes  over,  eats,  and 
digests  small  flies  as  they  alight.  The  properties  of  this 
plant  have  been  made  use  of  by  Darwin  in  the  develop- 
ment of  his  theory  of  evolution  by  natural  selection. 

Before  dinner  we  played  three  games  of  lawn  tennis. 
At  dinner  were  the  family  and  a  young  Irish  barrister. 
After  dinner  we  played  whist,  and  I  did  some  tricks 
with  cards  and  coins  which  I  had  learned  for  the  enter- 
tainment of  children  and  which  were  entirely  new  to  all 
present,  who  seemed  to  think  them  more  wonderful 
than  they  really  were. 

Sunday,  August  1 

Went  to  the  Richmond  church,  which  was  of  an  old 
style  with  square  pews,  and  there  was  a  beadle  dressed 
in  a  parti-colored  gown.    The  singing  was  very  plain 


54      HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

and  the  sermon  still  more  plain,  mere  words  strung  to- 
gether without  any  apparent  purpose. 

Lady  Ribblesdale  and  her  son  (who  later  married 
Mrs.  John  Astor)  came  in  for  lunch.  At  dinner  we  had 
the  same  party  as  yesterday  except  that  Rollo  was 
away,  and  we  had  two  members  of  Parliament,  one  an 
Irish  Catholic.  I  sat  between  Lord  and  Lady  Russell  and 
took  Lady  Russell  in  to  dinner.  We  spoke  of  Edmund 
Burke,  and  I  told  of  Rufus  Choate's  reading  Burke  so 
constantly  and  how  he  particularly  liked  the  "Letter 
to  a  Late  Noble  Lord,"  and  to  my  horror  I  suddenly  re- 
membered that  Earl  Russell  was  descended  from  that 
very  Duke  of  Bedford  concerned,  of  whom  Burke  spoke 
in  no  very  complimentary  terms.  I,  however,  turned 
the  conversation  to  the  literary  merits  of  this  great 
speech,  leaving  out  any  reference  to  the  rights  of  the 
case.  Lord  Russell  said  that  Burke's  son,  who  died  and 
was  so  lamented  by  his  father,  was  so  highly  esteemed 
only  by  the  father  and  not  by  others.  He  also  said  that 
one  of  Burke's  best  speeches  was  against  employing 
Indians  in  the  American  or  Revolutionary  War  with  the 
colonists,  and  that  this  speech  was  lost  and,  of  course, 
not  among  Burke's  published  works. 

He  talked  much  about  the  great  speakers  and  orators 
of  Parliament  in  his  time,  of  the  French  and  Russian 
imitations  of  Parliament,  and  commended  the  wisdom 
of  the  founders  of  our  American  Constitution,  and  men- 
tioned some  changes  in  it  which  he  thought  necessary. 
I  told  him  that,  though  the  American  Constitution  is 
nowadays  held  in  such  high  esteem,  it  came  very  near 
being  defeated ;  that  many  of  the  leaders  in  the  country 
opposed  it;  that  my  great-grandfather,  Francis  Dana, 
contended  for  it  with  great  earnestness  in  the  Massa- 
chusetts Convention  against  Samuel  Adams,  Elbridge 


LORD  RUSSELL  ON  AMERICAN  INSTITUTIONS    55 

Gerry,  and  others,  where  it  was  adopted  only  by  a  very 
close  vote,  and  had  it  been  defeated  there  it  would  have 
failed  of  adoption. 

Lord  Russell  agreed  with  my  grandfather  Dana's 
idea  that  a  king  and  nobility  in  America  would  be  a 
great  blessing,  believing  the  American  people  needed 
something  to  look  up  to.  Of  course  this  was  only  a 
fancy,  for  Russell  knew  well  enough  it  would  never 
work  in  our  country.  The  people  would  never  accept 
it.  We  shall  in  time  outgrow  our  bumptiousness  and 
cocksureness,  which  is  sometimes  so  offensive  to  other 
nations,  and  do  better  in  the  end  than  if  helped  by  any 
such  artificial  institutions,  for,  as  I  suggested,  a  bad  king 
and  dissolute  members  of  the  nobility  might  do  more 
harm  than  good  ones  could  offset. 

I  continue  to  be  surprised  at  finding  how  much  the 
English  ladies  know  of,  and  how  well  they  talk  on, 
national  and  political  questions  in  comparison  with  the 
American  ladies  I  have  known.  (Nowadays  this  is 
greatly  changed  in  the  United  States.) 

Lord  Russell  showed  much  strength  of  mind  even  in 
discussing  modern  problems,  and  his  memory  for  the 
past  is  very  clear,  but  not  always  so  for  the  present  as 
to  names  and  dates.  He  forgot  that  he  had  seen  me  a 
week  before  and  repeated  some  things  I  had  said,  as 
told  him  by  "an  American  he  had  lately  met." 

The  guests  coming  down  to  Pembroke  Lodge  for 
dinner  are,  by  a  long  understanding,  excused  from 
dressing,  the  men  appearing  in  their  frock  coats  worn 
in  the  daytime  in  London. 

Monday,  August  2 

Read  a  little  and  played  lawn  tennis  a  good  deal  more. 

I  saw  Lord  Russell  again  at  lunch.  He  repeated  his  re- 


56      HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

mark  of  the  other  day  that  Washington  was  the  great- 
est man  of  the  age.  He  talked  about  the  American 
trade  with  Japan  and  its  growth  and  size,  and  when  I 
told  him  it  was  carried  on  almost  entirely  in  English 
vessels,  he  was  greatly  amused  and  chuckled  to  himself 
for  some  little  time. 

Went  "up"  to  town  directly  after  lunch.  London 
is  always  "up,"  except  in  relation  to  Oxford  and  Cam- 
bridge when  it  is  "down,"  and  the  universities  are 
"up." 

Found  Tom  Felton  at  Mrs.  Brooks's.  He  was  rather 
lonely  and  I  was  glad  to  cheer  him  up.  He  is  the  son 
of  the  late  president  of  Harvard  College,  Cornelius  Con- 
way Felton. 

To-day  I  took  my  first  dinner  at  my  own  expense  since 
July  15th,  when  I  delivered  my  first  letters.  I  went  to 
the  famous  Simpson's  Restaurant  with  a  Harvard 
classmate.  There  they  wheel  up  to  your  alcove  table 
huge  joints  on  warmed  platters  and  before  your  face 
cut  slices  just  as  you  direct.  I  visited  again  the  Royal 
Art  Exhibition  and  liked  some  of  the  pictures  better 
than  at  my  first  visit.  I  looked  up  Millais's  work  with 
special  interest  since  I  have  known  him.  Some  of  his 
portraits  certainly  seem  to  be  of  a  very  high  order. 

Tuesday,  August  3 

Called  on  Lady  Pollock,  whom  I  found  in,  and  who 
gave  me  addresses  and  advice  for  Paris  and  France 
generally,  which  I  am  to  visit  this  autumn.  She  reads 
and  talks  French  easily. 

Called  on  Sir  William  Vernon  Harcourt,  whom  I 
missed,  as  he  was  off  for  six  weeks  or  more  in  Switzerland. 
Dined  at  the  Savile  Club.  Parliament  soon  closes  and 
the  London  season  was  brought  to  an  end  by  the  opening 


LORD  RUSSELL  AND  THE  TRENT  AFFAIR        57 

of  the  grouse  shooting.  I  surely  have  had  great  oppor- 
tunities in  meeting  so  many  of  the  distinguished  men  — 
many  more  than  I  have  mentioned  in  this  journal  by 
name  —  in  seeing  the  procedure  of  Parliament,  and 
hearing  all  the  men  of  mark  there.  I  also  went  to  the 
House  of  Lords  and  to  some  of  the  courts  several  times 
under  good  introductions,  and  I  am  now  off  for  a  trip  in 
the  country  and  to  make  a  series  of  visits  in  big  houses. 
Lord  Frederick  Cavendish  asked  me  to  visit  them  during 
Christmas  season  at  Chatsworth,  having  secured  an 
invitation  for  me  from  his  father,  the  Duke  of  Devon- 
shire. There  is  to  be  a  large  and  interesting  party  there, 
and  as  Chatsworth  is  the  finest  country  house  in  England 
it  is  a  great  opportunity.  However,  I  planned  to  be  on 
the  Continent,  where  I  want  to  learn  French,  and  it 
would  upset  those  plans  to  come  back  for  this  one  visit, 
and  would  also  add  greatly  to  the  expense  which  I  do 
not  like  to  put  upon  my  father.  So  I  declined  this  in- 
vitation, attractive  as  it  was.  (Afterwards  I  regretted 
having  declined,  as  it  was  an  unusual  opportunity  to 
meet  the  Marquis  of  Hartington,  the  eldest  son  of  the 
Duke,  who  was,  I  understood,  to  be  in  the  party,  and 
other  prominent  guests,  and  to  see  the  Christmas  festivi- 
ties in  an  old  family.  Had  I  stayed  but  a  week  or  two 
more  in  Paris  than  I  did,  perfecting  my  French,  I  could 
have  run  back  to  England  in  short  time  and  at  small 
cost.) 

On  one  of  my  visits  with  Lord  Russell  I  presumptu- 
ously brought  the  conversation  to  bear  on  the  Trent 
Affair,  boldly  asking  him  why  he  had  not  stated  to 
Parliament  the  grounds  on  which  Seward  had  returned 
Messrs.  INIason  and  Slidell,  summed  up  in  the  end  of  his 
letter.  Lord  Russell  said  that  this  letter,  like  all  Sew- 
ard's communications,  was  so  long  and  involved  that 


58      HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

he  could  not  have  read  it  to  ParHament.  This  did  not 
seem  to  be  quite  a  satisfactory  answer,  but  I  did  not 
press  the  question  further.  The  Trent  Affair  was  in 
short  as  follows : 

During  the  early  days  of  the  Civil  War  Captain 
Charles  Wilkes  of  the  United  States  Navy,  in  command 
of  the  San  Jacinto,  a  United  States  war  vessel,  took  off 
from  the  Trent  (a  British  steamer  running  between 
neutral  ports)  Messrs.  Mason  and  Slidell,  two  Confeder- 
ate envoys  sent  out  respectively  to  England  and  France, 
with  their  secretaries.  It  was  done  without  any  author- 
ity from  or  knowledge  on  the  part  of  the  United  States 
Government,  but  under  the  principle  always  contended 
for  as  legal  by  England  up  to  the  very  moment  that  the 
capture  of  these  gentlemen  became  known  in  London. 
The  British  Government,  however,  Lord  John  Russell 
representing  it  in  the  House  of  Commons,  demanded, 
in  conjunction  with  Lord  Palmers  ton,  under  threat  of 
war,  the  immediate  return  of  Mason  and  Slidell.  We 
had  always  contended  that  the  English  principle  was 
wrong,  and  one  of  the  issues  of  the  War  of  1812  against 
Great  Britain  was  on  this  very  subject. 

At  the  end  of  Seward's  letter  he  took  the  stand  that 
we  willingly  surrendered  these  gentlemen  on  the  ground 
that  by  England's  demand  she  "disavows"  her  old 
claim  of  the  right  to  do  the  same  thing  and  "assumes 
now  as  her  own"  the  ground  on  which  we  always  stood. 
Had  the  dozen  lines  of  Seward's  letter,  showing  the  why, 
been  read  by  Lord  John  in  Parliament,  or  their  substance 
stated,  it  would  have  helped  to  allay  the  ill-feeling  that 
naturally  came  from  our  being  made  to  appear  in  the 
eyes  of  Europe  as  frightened  into  surrendering  those 
men,  instead  of  having  achieved  a  victory  thereby  for 
our  own  principles.   I  think,  however,  this  climax  to  a 


THE  TICHBORNE  CLAIMANT  59 

far  too  long  and  elaborate  letter  may  have  escaped  Lord 
John's  attention,  as  it  has  that  of  some  historians. 

Lady  Russell  wants  to  substitute  "Britannia"  or 
"British  Isles"  as  the  name  for  "England,"  and  "Co- 
lumbia" for  the  "United  States  of  America."  In  a  note 
to  me  she  says:  "England  is,  properly  speaking,  only 
one  portion  of  Britannia  and  hence  arise  confusion  and 
awkwardness  in  speech  and  writing.  Depend  upon  it, 
when  you  and  I  have  peaceably  brought  about  these 
weighty  revolutions,  there  will  be  an  end  of  all  the 
bickerings,  bitterness,  and  broils  which  have  disturbed 
the  mother  and  daughter  countries  under  their  old 
names!" 

During  my  stay  in  London  there  had  been  much  talk 
about  Moody  and  Sankey,  who  had  recently  come  to 
England,  as  to  their  influence  for  good  and  the  after 
effects  of  such  revivals.  The  general  opinion  seemed  to 
be  here,  as  it  was  in  America,  that  while  a  few  were 
permanently  improved,  who  might  be  called  the  sur- 
vivals of  the  revivals,  many  were  only  emotionally 
carried  away  and  soon  went  back  into  old  ruts,  and 
with  some  individuals  it  might  be  said,  the  last  state  of 
that  man  was  worse  than  the  first. 

There  were  also  echoes  of  the  Tichborne  "claimant." 
Sir  Roger  Charles  Tichborne  was  supposed  to  have  been 
lost  at  sea,  and  a  man  from  Australia  declared  that  he 
was  the  rightful  Sir  Roger  and  claimed  the  baronetcy 
and  estates  worth  about' $120,000  a  year.  He  got  much 
sympathy  from  the  common  people  in  Great  Britain 
because  he  was  a  rough  person,  and  if  he  was  not  the 
true  Sir  Roger  was  the  son  of  a  butcher.  It  was  a  curious 
mixture  of  mind.  If  he  had  been  the  original  Sir  Roger, 
he  was  an  aristocrat,  but  if  he  was  this  son  of  a  butcher, 
he  was  n't  the  rightful  claimant.  His  original  claims  had 


60      HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

been  settled  adversely  to  him  three  years  before,  but 
he  and  some  of  his  witnesses  had  been  tried  for  perjury 
last  year  and  convicted,  and  this  longest  trial  known  in 
England  still  remained  in  the  public  mind,  especially 
as  attempts  were  being  made  to  secure  the  pardon  of  the 
claimant  and  his  witnesses. 

General  C.  R.  Schenck,  our  United  States  Minister 
to  London,  was  several  times  mentioned,  but  always 
and  only  as  having  taught  the  English  our  American 
card  game  of  poker,  which  had  been  taken  up  as  the 
great  gambling  pursuit  of  the  fast  set  and  by  others  for 
amusement  at  small  stakes. 

The  London  post-office  has  been  a  marvelous  surprise. 
Sir  John  Kennaway  told  me  that  letters  would  be  car- 
ried about  as  quickly  by  mail  as  by  special  messenger, 
and  this  I  found  to  be  true.  To  notes  that  I  posted  in  a 
"station"  in  a  small  store  near  my  lodgings  in  the  early 
forenoon  to  persons  even  two  or  three  miles  away,  I 
often  got  replies  on  the  same  afternoon  and  not  in- 
frequently in  the  middle  of  the  afternoon,  incredible  as 
it  may  seem  to  one  used  to  our  mails.  The  London  post- 
office  has  many  of  these  small  stations  where  stamps, 
money  orders,  and  postal  cards  can  be  bought  and  mail 
weighed.  Wlien  posted  in  these  stations,  the  stamps  are 
immediately  canceled,  the  letters  sorted  and  made  ready 
for  the  first  letter  carriers  that  come  along,  instead  of 
lying  idle  in  a  letter  box  for  one,  two,  or  three  hours  and 
then  taken  to  a  central  office  to  be  assorted  and  later 
sent  out  for  delivery,  often  traveling,  metaphorically 
speaking,  down  one  spoke  of  the  wheel  to  be  carried  out 
on  a  parallel  spoke,  instead  of  being  taken  right  across, 
without  delay,  as  in  London. 

I  have  omitted  one  important  incident  which  I  wit- 
nessed in  Parliament.  Sir  William  Vernon  Harcourt,  in 


DISRAELI  AND  THE  TORY  PARTY      61 

reply  to  one  of  Disraeli's  speeches,  quoted  from  one  of 
the  latter's  works  showing  that  Disraeli  had  changed 
his  views.  Disraeli  disappeared  into  the  library,  and 
soon  afterwards  returned  bringing  a  copy  of  the  book 
and  read  an  extract  which  did  not  quite  sustain  Har- 
court's  statement.  It  happened  that  the  very  next  time 
I  went  to  the  House  of  Commons,  I  think  it  was  the 
following  day  or  later  the  same  day  after  dinner,  Sir 
William  Vernon  Harcourt  got  up  and  read  from  the  first 
edition  of  the  same  work,  which  fully  sustained  his  quo- 
tation, and  then  showed  that  Disraeli  had  read  from 
a  late  edition  in  which  he  had  amended  the  statement, 
and  intimated  that  Disraeli  must  have  well  known  of  the 
amendment  and  was  trying  to  mislead  the  House. 

This  would  have  been  enough  to  smash  the  reputa- 
tion of  any  ordinary  Englishman.  I  looked  to  see  him 
fall  **down  and  give  up  the  ghost"  and  to  behold  the 
young  men  arise  and  carry  him  out;  but  not  at  all. 
Disraeli  only  made  some  amusing  remarks  and  the  whole 
matter  passed  off  like  drops  of  water  from  a  duck's 
back.  The  truth  is,  from  what  I  learn,  that  Disraeli, 
while  he  has  many  charming  qualities  and  is  very  true 
to  his  friends,  is  not  really  taken  into  the  inner  circles  of 
the  Tory  Party,  but  is  considered  by  them  more  as  an 
adroit  barrister  who  can  represent  their  side  in  Parlia- 
ment than  as  one  of  themselves. 

(A  story  was  privately  circulated  in  England,  which 
came  to  my  ears  and  has  recently  been  published,^  that 
Disraeli  wrote  a  beseeching  letter  to  Sir  Robert  Peel 
asking  for  an  appointment  in  his  government  and  soon 
afterwards  denied  in  Parliament  in  the  most  explicit 
language  that  he  had  ever  asked  for  anything  of  the 
sort.  Sir  Robert,  though  Disraeli  had  been  attacking  him 

'  See  George  Earle  Buckle's  Lije  of  Disraeli. 


62      HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

in  rather  an  annoying  way,  did  not  divulge  the  begging 
letter.  I  was  recently  told  by  two  eminent  authorities, 
one  a  Liberal  and  the  other  a  Tory,  who  were  in  a  posi- 
tion to  know,  that  Sir  Robert  had  this  letter  in  his 
pocket  when  Disraeli  made  the  denial,  and  hesitated 
for  a  few  moments  whether  to  read  the  letter  or  not  and 
that  Disraeli  had  banked  on  Sir  Robert's  clemency. 
Another  story  I  have  heard  is  that  at  the  moment  Sir 
Robert  could  not  find  the  letter  and  for  that  reason  let 
the  matter  pass.) 


CHAPTER  IV 

ALTHORP  HOUSE:  EARL  SPENCER'S  VIA  WARWICK 
AND  BIRMINGHAM 

Wednesday,  August  4 

This  morning  I  left  London  for  a  series  of  visits  at  great 

country  houses. 

Arrived  at  the  Warwick  Arms,  Warwick.  Put  on  my 
walking  shoes,  strolled  about  the  town,  and  then  started 
for  Guy's  Cliff.  Saw  Guy's  Cave  and  the  monument  to 
Giles,  Baron  of  Cornwall,  slain  here  in  1312  "by  barons 
as  lawless  as  himself."  At  the  Cliff  the  family  were  at 
home,  so  I  was  not  admitted.  Walked  close  to  the  castle 
on  the  other  side  of  the  Avon  and  visited  the  old  mill. 

Thursday,  August  5 

Walked  to  Warwick  Castle  and  got  there  before  the 
crowd,  so  I  saw  things  pretty  much  by  myself.  I  might 
easily  have  got  a  letter  of  introduction  to  the  family 
from  some  of  my  English  friends,  but  have  never  asked 
for  any  introductions.  I  was  surprised  at  the  excellence 
of  the  collection  of  pictures  by  many  great  masters. 
Walked  from  there  to  Kenil worth,  where  I  lunched  at 
the  Queen's  Arms.  I  was  enchanted  with  the  old  ruins 
and  could  hardly  tear  myself  away.  I  climbed  over  the 
wall  and  went  out  by  the  old  passage  by  which  the  Earl 
of  Leicester  and  Queen  Elizabeth  came  in  to  the  castle 
nearly  three  hundred  years  ago.  The  romance  of  Amy 
Robsart  lent  wonderful  pathos  to  the  whole  scene.  The 
old  way  was  closed  by  piles  of  ruins,  and  hard  climbing 
was  necessary,  but  I  was  too  much  worked  up  to  mind 
that. 


64      HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

On  arriving  at  Warwick  yesterday  I  found  a  letter 
from  my  good  and  faithful  friend  Rawlins  to  a  Mr. 
Lloyd,  of  the  Priory  at  Warwick,  which  I  delivered  that 
evening,  and  on  returning  to  my  hotel  to-day  I  found  a 
note  from  Mr.  Lloyd  asking  me  to  dine  at  the  Priory. 
It  was  thirty  minutes  after  his  dinner  hour  and  I  was  not 
dressed,  when  I  got  the  invitation. 

I  found  also  an  invitation  from  Sir  John  Kennaway 
to  visit  him  at  his  splendid  castle  at  Ottery  St.  Mary, 
Devonshire,  which  I  cannot  accept  on  account  of  other 
engagements  I  have  already  made,  and  one  from  Lord 
Coleridge  of  which  I  can  avail  myself. 

Called  at  the  Priory  in  the  evening.  It  was  magnifi- 
cent and  old  with  a  superb  great  hall  and  galleries 
about.  There  was  Prince  Rupert's  bed  and  Queen 
Elizabeth's  stairs.  The  hall  opened  up  through  three 
stories  and  was  almost  all  in  dark  oak  wainscoting,  with 
many  family  pictures  and  armor,  swords,  and  shields 
about.  The  family  were  one  and  all  very  hospitable, 
and  I  had  a  delightful  and  romantic  evening  in  this  his- 
toric house.  Ghost  stories  were  told,  but  none  of  them 
very  convincing  or  first  hand,  though  all  related  to  the 
house  and  its  past  owners.  Talk  drifts  on  spiritualism, 
which  is  receiving  much  attention  in  Great  Britain. 

Friday,  August  6 

Walked  to  Stratford-on-Avon,  eight  miles,  under  heavy, 
low  clouds  with  occasional  rain.  To-day,  Friday,  was 
market  day.  The  market  carts  were  about  and  wares 
spread  on  the  ground  in  the  middle  of  the  main  street. 
I  went,  of  course,  to  Shakespeare's  house  and  visited  his 
tomb,  passing  on  the  way  the  school  where  he  learned  to 
read  and  write.  The  memorials  and  curiosities  were 
many,  but  not  a  few  of  doubtful  authenticity;  in  fact, 


WARWICK  65 

there  seemed  to  be  some  dispute  about  everything,  even 
as  to  whether  Shakespeare  was  Shakespeare  or  Bacon, 
or  Bacon  was  Shakespeare. 

Returned  to  Warwick  by  train  after  dinner  and  went 
over  the  old  "Leyces  Ter"  Hospital.  Parts  of  the  gate- 
way are  very  ancient,  said  to  be  of  the  seventh  or  eighth 
century.  Saw  some  worsted  needlework  of  Amy  Rob- 
sart's,  claimed  to  be  genuine.  It  was  very  touching  to 
think  of  her  working  on  it  in  her  expectation  of  a  happy 
meeting  with  the  Earl  just  before  her  tragic  ending. 
Saw  several  autographs  of  Dudley,  Earl  of  Leyces  Ter, 
spelt  as  is  the  hospital. 

Saturday,  August  7 

Went  to  the  morning  service  at  Leyces  Ter  Hospital  be- 
fore breakfast.  It  was  quite  appealing.  There  were  eight 
old  soldiers  who  responded  with  so  much  earnestness 
and  good-will  that  it  was  a  lesson  for  us  Episcopalians, 
even  of  the  Church  of  the  Advent,  where  responses  were 
much  better  than  elsewhere  in  Boston.  These  services 
are  held  twice  a  day,  day  after  day,  with  rarely  any 
strangers  present.  It  quite  stirred  one's  heart  and  made 
it  worth  while  getting  up  early  for  this  service,  held  in 
the  old  chapel  over  the  still  older  gateway.  The  serv- 
ices were  read  from  a  prayer  book  given  by  Leicester. 
The  devotion  of  these  old  men,  their  close  attention,  and 
their  full,  manly  voices,  with  so  often  no  one  but  their 
Maker  to  hear  them,  I  shall  not  soon  forget. 

Left  Warwick  for  Birmingham  and  delivered  a  letter 
given  me  by  Mr.  Ferguson  to  a  Mr.  Chance  of  this 
city;  but  as  chance  would  have  it,  he  was  out  of  town. 
Smalley  had  promised  to  get  me  some  letters  to  the 
leading  manufacturers  of  Birmingham,  Manchester, 
and  elsewhere,  but  he  must  have  forgotten  his  promise. 


66      HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

for  I  have  received  none.  Merely  seeing  pigs  of  iron  go 
into  one  end  of  a  machine  and  come  out  in  knives,  forks, 
spoons,  bedsteads,  or  electroplated  silverware,  etc.,  at 
the  other,  is  not  half  as  educational  as  a  few  moments' 
talk  on  the  management  of  the  works,  the  methods  of 
economy,  and  the  labor  questions,  with  the  practical 
manufacturer  and  with  some  of  his  workmen  them- 
selves. 

Walked  about  the  town  in  a  hard  rain  for  an  hour  or 
so.  The  people  in  general  looked  less  earnestly  intent 
and  careworn  than  our  working  people  at  home.  Yet  I 
should  say  they  were  hardly  as  healthy.  There  was  a 
great  prevalence  of  drunkenness,  and  skin  diseases  seem 
not  uncommon;  at  least  they  were  obvious.  The  few 
healthiest  were  fine  specimens  of  human  nature,  but  I 
hoped  to  see  both  in  country  and  in  town  life,  among  the 
unprivileged  classes  of  England,  more  strong  bodies  and 
ruddy  cheeks  than  I  have  seen  yet.  It  may  be  that  the 
very  healthfulness  of  the  climate  tempts  people  to  its 
abuse.  If  this  is  so  it  is  something  of  a  compensation  for 
our  less  favorable  conditions. 

I  read  Hartington's  speech  on  the  proceedings  of  the 
Government,  which  is  manly  and  straightforward,  and 
then  "Dizzy's"  answer,  which,  to  me,  seemed  to  show  a 
great  mastery,  not  of  abstract  style  nor  solid  worth,  but 
of  just  the  sort  of  oratory  to  engage  the  attention  and 
carry  along  the  inert  thought  of  the  House  to  his  side. 
In  substance  it  seemed  to  me  to  consist  of  glittering 
generalities  and  catching  phrases.  I  wished  I  could  have 
heard  both  these  speeches. 

Sunday,  August  8 

St.  Philip's  in  the  morning.  Choral  service.  The  text  of 

the  sermon  was,  "And  does  Job  serve  the  Lord  for 


BIRMINGHAM  67 

naught."  It  was  well  arranged,  spoken  in  rich,  melodious 
tones,  and  so  put  as  not  to  arouse  any  one's  conscience 
beyond  the  point  of  good-breeding  and  self-content. 
The  clergyman  certainly  is  not  getting  hold  of  the  peo- 
ple. I  walked  through  the  city  and  saw  miles  of  signs 
of  continuous,  heart-breaking  poverty.  On  this  day, 
Sunday,  drinking-shops  and  tobacco  stores  were  open; 
the  former  in  great  numbers.  All  other  "places  of  amuse- 
ment" were  shut;  no  picture  galleries  were  open,  no 
libraries.  You  could  not  send  a  telegram  even  in  case 
of  illness  or  death,  and  trains  were  few  and  there  were  no 
mails. 

The  houses  were  mostly  in  three  stories,  though  some 
of  only  two.  I  saw  some  partly  built  which  had  only  the 
thickness  of  one  brick  between  the  houses  and  of  only 
two  bricks  in  front  and  rear.  The  bricks,  however,  were 
five  inches  broad  instead  of  our  narrow  ones;  but  it  was 
at  best  very  flimsy  construction.  (The  building  laws 
of  England  have  been  very  much  improved  since,  as  are 
the  dwelling  conditions  for  the  poor  in  all  its  cities.) 

Monday,  August  9 

I  GOT  from  the  landlady  of  the  Inn  a  card  to  the  Elking- 
ton  Silversmiths,  Electroplaters,  and  Bronze  Founders, 
the  largest  manufacturers  of  the  sort  in  the  world.  I 
told  these  people  that  I  was  an  American  studying  the 
conditions  in  England,  and  they  gave  me  cards  to  Mc- 
Callum  &  Hodson,  Papier  Mache,  Pearl,  and  Japan 
Goods;  to  Gillott's  Pen  Works;  and,  what  is  very  hard 
to  get,  a  letter  to  Taylor's  Pin  Works.  I  also  visited  a 
factory  for  making  shoe  pegs.  The  process  of  making 
these  pegs  was  interesting  and  instructive.  They  were 
cut  out  roughly  by  machinery  and  then  put  in  an  im- 
mense caldron  and  jostled  back  and  forth  and  up  and 


68      HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

down  till  they  became  smooth  and  polished.  Were  this 
smoothing  and  polishing  done  to  each  peg  separately,  it 
would  make  their  cost  prohibitive.  I  said  to  the  man 
who  showed  me  about,  "Isn't  that  something  like  a 
large  family  where  the  children  rub  off  each  other's 
rough  corners.f^"  He  smiled  and  said,  "It  is."  I  saw  to- 
day all  but  the  pin  works,  which  I  shall  visit  to-morrow. 
At  the  pen  works  the  hands  were  paid  by  the  piece.  The 
man  showing  me  about  was  unwilling  to  tell  what  the 
laborers  were  paid  or  earn  and  avoided  answering  my 
other  questions.  Some  of  the  laborers  looked  tired  and 
unhealthy,  but  there  were  enough  contented,  well,  and 
strong  hands,  both  men  and  women,  to  make  one  believe 
that  with  temperance,  fair  amount  of  industry,  and 
proper  preparation  of  their  food  at  home,  they  might 
have  been  on  the  average  much  better  off  than  they 
were;  indeed,  I  was  told  that  almost  all  those  who  were 
temperate  and  saving  did  pretty  well  and  a  few  became 
capitalists  themselves.  This  I  heard  from  both  employer 
and  employee.  Still  the  share  of  these  laborers  in  pro- 
duction is  pretty  small. 

Tuesday,  August  10 

I  STARTED  for  Althorp  House,  leaving  the  "Hen  and 
Chickens"  Hotel,  Birmingham,  where  I  had  been  stay- 
ing, not  without  a  feeling  of  satisfaction,  for  it  was  not  as 
cheap  as  it  was  bad,  or,  as  Longfellow  said  of  a  hotel 
called  "The  Raven,"  "The  bird  has  a  very  foul  nest  and 
a  very,  very  long  bill."  I  traveled  second-class,  as  usual, 
to  Northampton.  It  was  a  closely  built  town,  rather  old 
and  dirty,  with  a  little  admixture  of  modern  improve- 
ment. I  hired  the  best-looking  cab  at  the  station,  a 
shabby  four-wheeler,  with  a  horse  that  was  in  keeping 
with  the  old  trap  behind  him.   I  made  a  bargain  for 


ALTHORP  HOUSE  69 

seven  shillings  to  drive  to  Earl  Spencer's,  about  seven 
miles  away.  The  drive  was  over  a  good  road  with  rather 
quiet  English  scenery  on  either  side. 

One  notices  here,  and  almost  everywhere  in  England 
that  I  have  been,  except  in  the  suburbs  of  the  cities,  that 
the  houses  are  few  and  far  between  —  not  scattered 
along  the  road  as  the  farm  buildings  are  with  us.  Some- 
times there  is  not  a  dwelling-house  in  sight,  and  yet  the 
fields  about  are  all  ploughed  or  planted,  or  are  well-kept 
pasture  lands.  I  drove  up  to  the  house  about  four  in  the 
afternoon. 

Althorp  House  has  no  architectural  beauty  or  preten- 
sions. It  is  plain,  but  large,  and  placed  low  to  the  ground, 
as  are  almost  all  English  houses.  It  is  built  of  brick, 
painted,  and  does  not  look  as  picturesque  as  the  stables, 
which  are  of  stone.  The  house  is  so  well  proportioned 
that  one  does  not  take  in  at  first  glance  from  the  out- 
side its  great  size,  with  its  magnificent  ballroom,  its 
long  picture  galleries,  spacious  libraries,  and  broad, 
grand  stairs.  But  on  entering  and  going  to  my  room 
and  asking  questions,  I  soon  perceived  it.  At  the  door 
I  was  met  by  the  butler  who,  when  I  gave  my  name, 
said  he  w^as  awaiting  me,  and  ordered  my  "luggage"  to 
be  carried  up.  I  was  to  have  the  "Mignard"  room. 

The  butler  said  that  Lord  and  Lady  Spencer  were  out 
on  the  cricket  ground  and  that  "his  Lordship"  had  left 
word  for  me  to  come  there  if  1  liked.  I  was  put  in  charge 
of  a  quiet  young  manservant  or  valet  who  showed  me  to 
my  room  where  soon  my  luggage  was  brought  up  and 
unstrapped,  hot  water  appeared,  and  I  was  asked  if  I 
wished  anything  else.  I  washed  and  got  ready  —  but 
what  clothes  should  I  wear.^*  I  had  on  a  rough  Scottish 
suit  of  mixed  color,  while  in  my  trunk  I  had  nicer  clothes 
that  I  had  worn  in  town.  I  had  never  heard  what  was 


70      HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

worn  in  the  country,  but  I  concluded  to  wear  what  I 
thought  was  the  most  sensible  thing,  and,  at  all  events, 
to  avoid  being  overdressed.  So  I  kept  on  my  rough 
things,  put  on  my  thick  shoes,  and  donned  my  cloth  hat. 
On  coming  downstairs  I  met  Lord  Charles  Bruce,  Lord 
Spencer's  brother-in-law,  and  to  my  satisfaction,  he  had 
on  clothes  very  much  like  my  own  in  general  appearance 
and  cut,  and  he  had  also  a  soft  cloth  hat.  He  took  me 
out  to  the  cricket  ground,  a  beautiful,  level,  grassy  spot 
of  oval  shape,  with  fine  old  trees  on  the  margin,  contain- 
ing about  eight  acres  or  more  of  well-rolled  turf.  The 
game  was  over  and  all  the  household  had  gone  to  the 
kennels,  so  we  went  on  in  a  path  between  tall  trees  till 
we  came  up  with  the  party.  Spencer  had  on  a  cricket 
suit  with  a  red  handkerchief  tied  about  his  neck  and  a 
flannel  shirt.  Countess  Spencer  was  plainly  dressed  and 
as  handsome  and  charming  as  usual. 

In  the  kennels  there  were  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
dogs.  The  keepers  said  that  they  knew  each  hound  by 
name.  On  going  to  my  room  to  get  ready  for  dinner 
I  found  that  my  luggage  had  all  been  unpacked,  and 
my  things  neatly  put  away,  well  and  conveniently  ar- 
ranged in  drawers,  on  the  dressing-table  or  the  wash- 
stand.  I  found  laid  out  my  dress  suit,  a  clean  shirt,  white 
tie,  handkerchief,  my  evening  shoes,  and  black  silk 
stockings.  Hot  water  was  at  hand,  and  on  the  writing- 
table  were  paper,  pens,  ink,  wax,  and  a  card  of  the  de- 
parture and  arrival  of  mails.  The  room  was  high  and 
the  walls  covered  with  portraits  of  distinguished  persons 
mostly  by  the  celebrated  French  painter  Mignard. 
There  was  one  tall  window  looking  out  upon  a  terrace, 
well-kept  flower  gardens,  and  more  distant  grove  and 
park.  The  room  was  the  one  King  William  IV  slept  in 
and  Spencer  said  the  bed  was  the  one  he  used.  On  com- 


CONSIDERATION  FOR  STRANGERS  71 

ing  down  to  dinner  I  found  the  curtains  all  drawn  and 
candles  lighted,  though  at  eight  o'clock,  the  hour  for 
dinner,  it  was  still  plain  daylight  with  sun  shining 
brightly  out  of  doors.  The  waiters  were  dressed  in  a 
quiet  sort  of  livery;  their  hair  was  not  powdered.  At 
dinner  were  Lady  Charles  Bruce,  Lady  Clifden,  sisters 
of  Lady  Spencer,  Lady  Spencer,  Lord  Charles  Bruce,  and 
Lord  Spencer.  I  took  in  Lady  Spencer,  Spencer  took  in 
Lady  Charles,  and  Lord  Charles,  Lady  Clifden.  After 
dinner  the  ladies  went  out  leaving  the  men  behind. 

The  conversation  during  dinner  and  in  the  evening  was 
light  and  agreeable  and  such  as  to  put  a  stranger  per- 
fectly at  his  ease.  They  did  not  talk,  as  people  so  often 
do  before  strangers,  about  their  personal  friends,  speak- 
ing of  "WiU"  and  "John"  and  "Susan"  and  "Jane," 
or  using  nicknames,  which  would  mean  nothing  to  the 
stranger,  but  if  they  did  speak  of  friends  at  all,  they 
spoke  in  such  a  way  that  I  was  able  to  understand  to 
whom  they  referred.  Consideration  and  good  manners 
here  are  second  nature,  not  forced  or  laid  aside  on  famil- 
iarity; nor  is  there  anything  formal  or  unnatural.  All 
retired  about  eleven  o'clock.  Breakfast  is  when  we  like 
in  the  morning.  I  decided  to  have  mine  with  Spencer 
and  Lord  Charles  at  half-past  nine.  The  ladies  are  to 
breakfast  in  their  rooms. 

As  we  retired  candles  were  handed  to  us  and  we  said 
good-night  on  the  broad  hall  stairs.  In  my  room  I  found 
my  clothes  that  I  had  worn  during  the  day  taken  away 
and  my  night  things  laid  out  for  me,  and  the  shutters 
fastened  to,  the  curtains  drawn,  and  the  window  closed. 
It  is  so  strange  that  in  this  country  of  fresh  air  they  so 
universally  close  the  windows  at  night.  I  can  understand 
their  wanting  the  curtains  drawn  as  the  dawn  breaks  so 
early,  but  I  managed  to  open  my  window  and  arranged 


72      HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

the  curtain  so  as  to  let  the  air  in  and  yet  keep  the  light 
out.  By  the  way,  what  we  call  window  "shades,"  they 
call  "  blinds  ";  though  we  use  the  term  Venetian  "  blinds'* 
in  the  English  sense;  what  we  call  "blinds,"  which  in 
England  are  only  on  the  inside  and  are  without  slats, 
they  call  "shutters." 

Wednesday,  August  11 

I  WAS  awake  at  eight  and  three  quarters  or  a  quarter 
"to"  nine,  as  they  say,  instead  of  our  quarter  "of"  nine. 
The  young  valet,  the  same  who  always  waits  on  me, 
brought  my  clothes  all  brushed  and  folded,  and  shoes  I 
had  worn  the  day  before,  blacked.  He  drew  the  curtains 
fully  aside,  spread  open  the  shutters,  brought  in  hot 
water,  prepared  a  large  cold  bath  in  a  movable  bath- 
tub, —  for  there  are  no  bathrooms  with  set  tubs  in 
the  house,  —  put  my  washstand  in  order,  folded  up  the 
towels  that  were  suflficiently  clean  and  put  out  some 
fresh  ones,  laid  out  a  clean  shirt  and  collar,  and  took 
away  my  things  worn  the  evening  before. 

All  this  was  done  quietly  and  quickly,  while  I  was 
in  bed,  though  without  haste.  On  asking  about  the 
weather,  he  replied,  "It's  a  fine  day."  Out  of  my  win- 
dow I  saw  three  or  four  men  working  on  the  flower  beds, 
and  what  beautiful  flowers  they  were,  with  green  shrubs 
or  small  evergreens  to  set  them  off!  Breakfast  con- 
sisted of  coffee,  tea,  fresh  eggs,  with  "Tuesday,  August 
10,"  written  on  them,  fish,  chops,  orange  marmalade,  etc. 
All  was  very  informal,  and  we  mostly  waited  on  our- 
selves, even  getting  up  to  get  things  from  the  side 
table. 

Spencer  was  to  go  to  Northampton  to  sit  as  judge  in  a 
county  court.  Many  of  the  small  cases  are  decided,  not 
before  a  regular  court  with  a  judge,  but  before  a  tribunal 


LORD  SPENCER  AS  COUNTY  JUDGE  73 

of  the  Lord  of  the  Manor  and  some  of  the  local  magis- 
trates, aided  by  a  young  barrister.  There  are  no  formal 
papers  signed  or  what  we  technically  call  "pleadings," 
but  they  hear  the  story  of  each  party  in  person  un- 
represented by  barristers  or  solicitors,  and  decide  on 
general  principles  without  much  pretense  at  legal  tech- 
nicality. This  proceeding  settles  many  a  small  ques- 
tion at  little  or  no  cost  to  the  parties,  while  the  more 
complicated  ones,  or  those  involving  larger  amounts, 
or  such  as  either  party  wishes  to  appeal,  are  taken  to 
a  regular  court. 

Spencer  serves  without  pay  and  for  no  political  ad- 
vantage, and  certainly  not  for  the  sake  of  renown  in  such 
small  cases  in  a  country  town.  I  wonder  how  many  a 
Cleon  or  Ben  Butler  would  do  as  much  for  the  people 
from  a  sense  of  duty  alone? 

Lord  Charles  spent  the  morning  with  me  in  the  won- 
derful library.  The  catalogue  was  written  alphabeti- 
cally in  small  parchment-bound  books.  Numbers  were 
added  to  the  names  and  these  numbers  referred  to  a 
large  book  giving  the  locations,  so  that  in  changing  the 
location  of  a  book  it  was  only  necessary  to  change  the 
number  of  the  shelf  in  the  latter  book,  and  the  original 
catalogue  remained  untouched. 

I  saw  Dr.  Johnson's  copy  of  the  last  edition  of  his 
dictionary  that  was  published  during  his  lifetime,  with 
notes  in  his  own  handwriting.  In  the  room  of  treasures 
I  saw  some  of  the  very  earliest  specimens  of  block  print- 
ing before  movable  type  had  been  invented,  and  some 
of  the  old  blocks  themselves.  Several  of  these  were 
on  Bible  subjects  for  teaching  the  illiterate  by  pictures. 
In  this  room  I  also  saw  the  first  edition  of  the  first  book 
ever  printed.  We  looked  over  many  old  German  and 
Italian  books,  examining  the  paper  and  type.    Cicero 


74      HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

was  the  first  classic  ever  printed.  This  library  has  the 
best  collection  of  block  printing  and  early  books  any- 
where in  the  world  with  the  exception  of  the  British 
Museum.  (The  next  spring,  when  going  over  the  old 
Library  in  Milan,  they  showed  me  a  rare  early  book  and 
said  there  is  only  one  other  copy  in  the  world,  and  I  re- 
plied, "Yes,  and  I  saw  it  at  Althorp  House."  To  this 
the  librarian  added,  "If  you  have  seen  that  collection 
we  have  very  little  to  show  you."  Some  years  after- 
wards Lord  S.  sold  all  this  rare  collection  in  order  to 
make  up  for  heavy  losses  caused  by  a  dishonest  agent. 
It  was  bought  as  a  whole  by  Mrs.  Ryland  and  made 
a  part  of  the  Hyland  Public  Library  at  Manchester, 
England,  and  is  kept  all  together  under  the  title  of  the 
"Althorp  Collection.") 

There  I  saw  the  earliest  edition  of  Shakespeare  printed 
soon  after  his  death  under  the  direction  of  the  very 
players  he  had  taught  by  mouth.  They  and  Ben  Jonson 
did  not  hesitate  to  ascribe  the  plays  to  Shakespeare  in 
the  most  open  terms.  Ben  Jonson's  comment  in  his 
well-known  poem  on  the  portrait  of  Shakespeare  also 
appears  in  this  edition.  When  one  sees  Ben  Jonson's 
admiration  of  Shakespeare,  a  person  whom  he  met  so 
frequently  and  with  whom  he  conversed  so  often,  it 
seems  incredible  that  he  should  have  believed  him  to  be 
the  author  of  these  great  works  unless  he,  Shakespeare, 
had  the  mental  capacity  and  showed  it  in  his  conversa- 
tion; and  then,  too,  we  must  remember  that  many  of 
these  plays  were  not  fully  written  out  when  they  were 
first  acted,  but  Shakespeare,  in  the  presence  of  his 
actors  and  friends,  would  often  make  suggestions  and 
alterations,  and  if  he  was  capable  of  that  he  was  capable 
of  writing  the  first  drafts.  It  is  true  Jonson  says  that 
he  (S.)  knew  "little  Latin  and  less  Greek,"  but  we  must 


THE  ENGLISH  DOMESTIC  SYSTEM  75 

remember  that  Jonson  was  a  marvelous  scholar  and 
he  would  have  said  the  same  of  almost  any  Harvard 
graduate  who  had  elected  the  classics  —  if  we  except  the 
high  honor  men  —  and  that  the  historical  plays  are 
but  adaptations  of  well-known  English  literature  and 
did  not  require  original  research.  However,  I  cannot 
enter  deeply  into  the  argument,  but  when  we  actually 
saw  the  first  edition  with  the  portrait  of  Shakespeare  and 
Ben  Jonson's  reference  to  it,  it  was  far  more  convincing 
than  merely  reading  of  it  in  dissertations. 

In  the  afternoon  Lord  Charles  and  I  set  up  the  lawn 
tennis.  It  involved  pretty  hard  work  and  a  good  deal 
of  stooping  in  marking  off  the  lines  with  whitewash  by 
means  of  a  brush  and  long  strings.  Countess  S.  said  she 
was  sorry  to  have  us  work  so  long  and  tediously,  but 
they  had  no  servants  at  hand  who  could  do  it.  This 
is  another  illustration  of  the  English  domestic  system. 
There  were  standing  about  an  abundance,  both  out- 
doors and  in,  of  men  quite  capable  of  doing  this  work; 
but  not  one  was  found,  within  whose  duty  it  would  lie. 
Neither  the  gardener  nor  the  footmen  nor  the  valets 
nor  the  bootblacks  nor,  of  course,  the  maids  would 
help.  Our  hostess  knew  this  so  well  that  she  did  not 
even  ask  them,  for  it  would  have  meant  point-blank 
refusal.  They  had  one  man-of -all-work  for  such  odd 
jobs,  but  he  was  away  in  a  distant  part  of  the  enormous 
grounds,  somewhere,  perhaps,  in  the  27,000  acres 
Spencer  is  reputed  to  own. 

I  played  a  game  with  Lady  Spencer,  and  getting  too 
much  ahead,  I  left  one  half  of  her  court  for  her  to  tend 
while  I  tended  the  whole  of  mine;  with  this  advantage 
she  beat  me.  I  played  three  close  sets  with  Lord  Charles 
and  was  beaten  in  two  out  of  three. 


76      HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

Thursday,  August  12 

The  morning  was  spent  largely  over  the  piano.  Lord 
Charles,  who  had  made  a  study  of  musical  theory  and 
composition,  explained  many  interesting  musical  laws 
to  me  and  played  very  agreeably.  After  that  we  ad- 
journed again  to  the  treasure  room  of  the  library  to 
spend  a  couple  of  engrossing  hours  over  some  valuable 
books.  In  trying  to  open  one  of  the  windows  I  broke  a 
pane  of  glass.  I  feared  that  it  might  injure  the  valuable 
treasures,  but  they  assured  me  that  it  would  not. 

In  the  afternoon  went  over  to  a  chapel  some  distance 
off  where  were  the  Spencer  tombs  and  monuments.  In 
going  through  the  fields  Lady  Spencer  and  Lady  Clif- 
den  did  not  hesitate  to  walk  through  a  herd  of  black 
oxen  and  were  not  at  all  troubled  as  the  lazy  brutes 
lowered  their  heads  and  swayed  their  large  horns  as 
they  sullenly  turned  off  the  path.  At  the  further  gate 
we  met  Spencer  who  had  been  waiting  for  us,  and  there 
the  ladies  turned  to  walk  back  again  alone  through  this 
drove.  I  complimented  them  on  their  courage,  but 
they  said  that  there  was  no  danger  and  that  they  were 
used  to  the  cattle. 

In  the  chapel  Lord  Spencer  showed  me  the  tomb- 
stone of  the  Washingtons  with  the  family  coat  of  arms 
on  it.  The  design  was  a  shield  with  three  stars  above 
and  three  horizontal  stripes  below.  These  stars  and 
stripes  led  Spencer  to  think  that  Washington  had  his 
coat  of  arms  adopted,  with  a  slight  change,  for  the  de- 
sign of  the  American  flag  and  shield.  This  did  not  seem 
consistent  with  Washington's  character  and  above  all 
with  his  modesty.  Spencer  said  he  had  shown  Charles 
Sumner  the  same,  with  the  same  comment.  On  getting 
back  Spencer  and  I  looked  up  the  only  American  his- 
tories I  could  find  in  the  library,  but  no  light  was  thrown 


ENGLISH  VOICES  77 

on  the  subject.  (On  returning  to  America  I  found  a 
complete  account  of  the  adoption  of  the  flag,  with  which 
Washington  seems  to  have  had  nothing  to  do.) 

There  were  in  the  house  the  two  children  of  Lady 
Clifden,  her  son  (the  present  Viscount  Clifden),  and  a 
daughter,  called  Lady  Lilah.  They  were  about  thir- 
teen and  fifteen,  but  did  not  appear  at  table  except  at 
lunch.  I  noticed  that  the  governess  carefully  corrected 
the  pronunciation  of  the  Clifden  children  and  modu- 
lated their  speech.  I  had  always  remarked  on  the  fine 
voices  the  English  had,  but  presumed  it  was  a  product 
of  the  climate.  I  asked  about  this  and  they  told  me  that 
all  the  well-to-do  English  children  were  carefully  taught 
to  speak,  almost  as  people  are  taught  to  sing,  and  to 
avoid  all  nasal  or  harsh  utterances.  With  us  in  America 
children  as  a  rule  have  been  allowed  to  talk  with  little 
or  no  correction  of  this  sort  for  fear  of  making  them 
artificial  or  unnatural.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  they  usually 
imitate  people  and  are  quite  as  artificial  and  unnatural 
in  a  bad  way  as  they  might  be  made  natural,  by  second 
nature,  in  a  good  way.  Every  afternoon  we  had  the 
tea  now  so  fashionable  all  over  England.  It  consisted 
of  tea,  very  hot,  bread  and  butter,  cut  very  thin,  and  a 
few  light  cakes.  It  was  very  refreshing  and  helped  one 
amazingly  till  eight  o'clock,  yet  without  spoiling  the 
appetite  for  dinner.   The  lunch  hour  was  two. 

Friday,  August  13 

Lord  Spencer  at  breakfast  asked  me  if  I  would  like  to 
ride  with  him  to  visit  some  farms.  "Riding "  in  England 
always  means  on  horseback,  and  "driving,"  in  a  car- 
riage. He  gave  me  a  very  handsome  mount,  a  really 
splendid  horse.  We  rode  mostly  through  the  fields  or 
country  lanes  and  had  to  open  many  gates.   Spencer, 


t8      HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

a  noted  horseman  and  huntsman,  complimented  me  on 
my  bringing  the  horse  to  the  gates  and  opening  them. 
He  is  a  splendid  manager  of  horses  I  readily  see.  I 
wondered  how  far  his  leaning  a  good  deal  forward,  with 
back  curved  and  rather  short  stirrups  with  knees  bent, 
helped  him.  This  very  likely  gives  him  power  and  con- 
trol in  rough  riding. 

We  met  a  stranger,  apparently  a  well-to-do  farmer, 
with  a  broad,  ruddy  face  and  side  whiskers,  sitting 
erect  on  his  saddle,  with  a  self-confident  air.  Spencer 
asked  him  about  his  horse,  if  it  were  not  such  and  such  a 
one,  and  inquired  as  to  how  it  went.  The  man  at  first 
was  a  little  gruff  and  almost  rude,  as  if  he  thought  that 
the  person  addressing  him  had  no  right  to  be  so  familiar. 
Another  horseman  coming  up  addressed  Spencer  by 
his  title.  Immediately  the  poor  farmer  was  in  consterna- 
tion. He  blushed  to  the  roots  of  his  hair,  stammered, 
and  apologized;  and  yet  he  really  had  neither  said  nor 
done  anything  which  was  not  perfectly  proper;  but  such 
is  the  deference,  amounting  almost  to  obsequiousness, 
ingrained  into  the  English  people  for  the  nobility. 

The  pastoral  views  were  charming.  The  wheat  was 
not  yet  harvested,  but  was  yellow  and  made  a  striking 
contrast  to  the  green  grass  of  the  pasture  lands  and  the 
brown  of  the  freshly  ploughed  fields.  The  lowlands 
were  soggy  from  recent  rains;  all  the  work  of  St.  Swithun ! 
In  the  early  afternoon  I  made  a  small  sketch  of  the 
house  in  black  and  white.  Spencer  recommended  my 
taking  up  colors  as  so  much  more  rich  and  interesting. 

This  afternoon  Lady  Spencer  invited  me  into  her 
sanctum  sanctorum,  a  prettily  furnished  den  on  the  first 
floor.  The  door  to  it  was  so  successfully  concealed  in  the 
paneling  on  the  side  of  the  great  stairs  that  I  had  not 
known  of  its  existence.  She  showed  me  the  many  con- 


LORD  AND  LADY  SPENCER  79 

veniences  of  her  writing-table,  the  pretty  furniture  and 
settings,  and  we  had  an  hour's  delightful  chat  on  friends 
and  leaders  in  English  society  and  on  books  and  authors. 

I  forgot  to  say  that  on  the  previous  Thursday  we 
played  some  games  of  "go  bang,"  a  game  something 
like  the  reverse  of  checkers.  Lady  Clifden  beat  Lady 
Spencer,  I  beat  Lady  Clifden,  and  Lady  Spencer  beat 
me,  a  result  very  like  the  celebrated  championship  at 
cricket  between  Harrow,  Eton,  and  Winchester.  One 
year  when  Eton  beat  Harrow  with  an  inning  to  spare, 
Harrow  beat  Winchester  also  with  an  inning  to  spare, 
and  then,  when  Winchester  came  to  play  Eton,  to 
everybody's  surprise  it  won  also  with  an  inning  to  spare. 

The  Spencers  are  evidently  very  fond  of  each  other, 
kind  and  considerate,  and  plan  to  be  much  together 
in  their  daily  arrangements.  (On  the  death  of  Lady 
Spencer  I  received  a  letter  dated  the  9th  of  December, 
1903,  from  the  Earl  in  reply  to  one  of  sympathy  from 
me,  saying:  "Yours  is  the  third  letter  which  I  have  re- 
ceived in  a  week  from  your  country,  and  I  assure  you 
that  it  touches  me  much  to  know  that  my  good  friends 
in  the  United  States  valued  my  beloved  wife's  character 
and  charm  and  sympathize  with  me  in  my  great  sorrow. 
It  is  a  terrible  thought  that  my  constant  helpmate  and 
adviser  for  over  forty -five  years  has  left  me  and  that  I 
have  to  face  the  world  alone  without  her.  But  I  must 
face  it.  I  must  be  thankful  for  long  and  blessed  years  of 
happiness  and  peace."  It  truly  seemed  as  if  his  desire 
for  life  and  active  work  had  departed  with  her,  for  he 
did  not  accomplish  much  after  her  death.  He  outlived 
her  seven  years.) 

During  lunch  the  Spencers  were  discussing  some  plans 
for  altering  Althorp  House.  There  was  one  that  I  pre- 
ferred, for  which  I  spoke  favorably  and  hoped  they 


80      HOSPITxVBLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

would  adopt  in  preference  to  the  others.  It  showed  up 
the  grand  stairs,  while  the  two  other  plans  gave  less 
space  from  which  to  see  them.  In  the  afternoon  Lord 
and  Lady  Charles  Bruce  left  us. 

After  dinner,  in  the  evening.  Lady  Spencer  and  I 
played  two  games  of  "go  bang,"  one  of  which  lasted 
over  two  hours,  as  each  of  us  tried  hard  to  win.  Lady 
Spencer  having  beaten  me  in  the  first^game.  We  did 
not  get  through  till  a  quarter  to  one,  when  at  last,  on 
account  of  the  lateness  of  the  hour,  I  gave  the  game 
away.  I  was  for  stopping  sooner,  but  Lady  S.  was  for 
having  it  out  if  possible.  Poor  Spencer  sat  up  all  the 
time  and  was  very  sleepy,  but  was  unwilling  to  retire 
and  yet  was  most  polite  and  kind.  I  felt  awkward  at 
having  kept  him  up  so  late. 

During  this  visit,  though  warned  by  my  father  to  use 
titles  as  little  as  possible,  I  made  an  unnecessary  use 
of  one  in  speaking  to  Lady  Clifden.  I  saw  she  fairly 
cringed,  so  I  learned  my  lesson. 

Saturday,  August  14 

In  the  afternoon  Lady  Spencer  left  in  company  with 
her  sister  Lady  Clifden  and  the  two  children  for  the  up 
train  and  I  half  an  hour  or  so  later  for  the  down  train, 
"down"  in  this  case  means  north-bound  and  "up" 
south  for  London.  (Lady  Clifden  was  married,  a  second 
time,  soon  after  this  and  may  have  been  going  to  Lon- 
don with  her  sister  for  her  trousseau.) 

I  was  sorry  to  leave  where  they  had  been  so  kind  and 
where  I  had  enjoyed  the  visit  so  much,  but  I  must  not 
outstay  my  welcome.  I  had  got  to  have  a  feeling  of  real 
affection  for  Spencer,  as  for  a  kind  and  generous  elder 
brother.  This  afternoon  as  the  ladies  were  departing  I 
noticed  that  he  had  tears  in  his  eyes.   Something  had 


PICTURES  AT  ALTHORP  HOUSE  81 

happened  which  moved  him  very  much,  I  could  only- 
guess  what.  He  has  no  children,  and  it  may  be  that 
saying  good-bye  to  his  sister-in-law's  children,  one  of 
them  a  boy  and  heir  to  the  Clifden  title  and  estates, 
made  him  feel  his  own  deprivation.  I  was  sorry,  too, 
to  leave  the  house  with  its  wonderful  library  and  its 
five  hundred  beautiful  oil  paintings,  and  my  own  room 
with  its  portrait  of  Moliere  by  Largilliere,  1656-1746; 
Seigneur  de  Saint-Evremond  and  Hortense  Mamini, 
"Duchesse  Mazarin,"  by  Godfrey  Kneller,  1648- 
1723;  Louis  XIV;  Colbert;  Julie  d'Argennes;  Mile, 
de  I'Enclos;  Anne  of  Austria,  "Soror,  mater,  filia,  et 
conjux  regum";  Lucy  Barlow,  alias  Walter;  Henrietta 
of  Orleans;  Madame  de  Montespan  as  Diana;  and  Marie 
Angelique  de  Roussille,  Duchesse  de  Fontanges,  all  by 
Mignard,  1610-95.  In  the  gallery  is  said  to  be  the 
best  private  collection  in  the  world  of  portraits  by  Sir 
Joshua  Reynolds.  There  were  also  some  portraits  by 
Van  Dyck  and  a  very  beautiful  Madonna  by  Raphael. 
Lord  Spencer  sent  me  to  the  station  in  an  Irish  jaunt- 
ing car,  I  perched  on  one  side,  over  the  wheels,  and  my 
baggage  balancing  me  on  the  other.  He  had  picked 
this  up  when  he  was  Lord  Lieutenant  of  Ireland  between 
1868  and  1874.  One  felt  the  motion  of  the  horse  a  good 
deal,  and  going  round  curves  one  had  to  hold  on  to  the 
back  of  the  seat;  but  it  went  rolling  and  jouncing  along 
very  fast  and  seemed  to  be  easy  on  the  horse. 


CHAPTER  V 
LORD  YOUNG'S  VIA  YORK  AND  EDINBURGH 

I  TOOK  the  train  for  York  and  stopped  a  few  hours  at 
Peterboro  to  see  the  cathedral,  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant Norman  churches  in  England.  The  choir  aisle 
has  on  one  side  the  tomb  of  Queen  Catherine  of  Aragon 
and  on  the  opposite  side  the  former  burial-place  of 
Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  her  body  having  been  later  re- 
moved to  Westminster  Abbey.  The  chimes  were  ring- 
ing. Inside  I  seemed  to  feel  the  sound  more  than  hear  it, 
and  outside,  the  bells,  even  close  to,  were  more  mellow, 
soft,  and  harmonious  than  any  I  had  ever  heard  before. 
In  the  streets  the  people  were  selling  their  goods,  one 
fishmonger  outcrying  another  or  running  down  the 
quality  of  the  other's  fish.  Arrived  at  York  in  the  early 
evening. 

Sunday,  August  15 

Attended  morning  service  at  the  Cathedral.  They 
were  mending  the  organ  so  the  choir  sang  without  ac- 
companiment. The  choir  was  of  men  and  boys  and  is 
reputed  to  be  the  best  now  in  England.  I  preferred  it  to 
the  choir  of  the  Temple.  We  had  a  full  choral  service. 
The  pitch  was  perfectly  kept,  and  as  the  beautiful 
chords  died  away  among  the  arches,  I  fully  realized  my 
very  dream  of  cathedral  singing.  How  I  can  recall  the 
notes  all  day  long  as  the  monotone  of  a  response  broke 
into  a  rich,  harmonious  chord  or  how  the  solemn  chants 
were  sung  antiphonally,  one  side  confirming  what  the 
other  sang  or  adding  to  the  thought !  It  was  the  praise 
of  God  sung  by  His  most  perfect  instrument,  the  hu- 


EDINBURGH  83 

man  voice,  cleared  of  its  defects  and  artificialities  — 
and  all  in  one  of  His  most  beautiful  temples. 

Edinburgh,  Tuesday,  August  17 

I  WAS  very  much  struck  with  the  picturesqueness  of 
the  city  on  my  arrival  last  evening.  The  castle,  right 
across  a  park  and  close  at  hand  and  yet  so  high  up,  was 
but  dimly  marked  against  a  cloud-flecked  sky,  and  the 
few  lights  shining  here  and  there  with  a  full  moon  over 
the  castle,  so  still  and  calm  and  steady  between  the 
flitting  clouds,  gave  one  the  idea  of  feudal  times  and  of 
deep  mystery  and  unreality.  It  all  looked  so  like  a 
picture,  and  so  quiet,  that  it  made  a  great  contrast  to 
the  street  and  the  moving  crowd  of  people  nearer  by; 
and  altogether  it  gave  me  a  new  idea  of  how  beautiful 
a  city  might  be.  In  the  new  part  the  buildings  were 
handsome  and  solid;  in  the  old  part,  high  and  dirty.  I 
saw  one  block  seven  stories  high,  besides  attic  and 
basement. 

I  noticed  a  large  number  of  recruits  to  the  army  in  all 
the  cities  and  read  in  the  papers  that  the  army  and  navy 
were  both  to  be  increased.  In  the  evening  the  streets 
were  crowded,  and  the  people  seemed  to  be  jolly  and 
the  children  played  their  games.  There  was  a  general 
air  of  neatness,  cheerfulness,  and  good-will.  A  grand 
view  of  the  city,  the  Firth,  and  the  land  between  I 
got  from  the  top  of  Nelson's  Monument  about  four 
o'clock. 

I  came  across  a  wandering  preacher  standing  on  a 
light  movable  chair  or  stool.  He  was  assisted  in  singing 
by  a  young  man  who  sang  in  unison  with  him.  The 
preacher  read  texts  and  short  printed  sermons  while  all 
the  time  the  audience  was  attentive  and  quiet,  although 
composed  largely  of  rough-looking  men.  It  was  in  the 


84      HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

poor  part  of  the  city  in  the  old  town  about  eight  o'clock 
in  the  evening. 

Wednesday,  August  18 

After  lunch  drove  to  call  on  Lord  Young  who,  when  I 
met  him  in  London,  had  made  me  promise  that  I  would 
look  him  up  on  coming  to  Edinburgh.  He  has  a  superb 
house  on  Moray  Place,  but  is  now  living  in  his  country 
cottage  about  five  miles  from  here  on  the  shore  of  the 
Firth.  I  was  lucky  enough,  however,  to  find  him  in  his 
town  house,  though  it  was  nominally  closed.  He  asked 
me  to  come  to  dinner  at  his  country  house  and  I  ac- 
cepted. "No  dress  suits,  and  everything  informal." 
The  life  there  is  simple  like  our  way  of  living  at  Man- 
chester. He  does  not  keep  up  the  formal  servants  of  his 
town  house.  While  he  has  a  butler  or  valet  and  some 
maids,  he  himself  brought  me  my  hot  water.  He  told  me 
he  has  just  visited  the  Duke  of  Argyll,  and  said  that 
Inverary,  where  I  am  going  soon,  is  the  pleasantest 
place  on  earth,  people  and  all.  I  missed  the  Duke  of 
Argyll  in  London,  but  I  have  since  received  a  letter  from 
the  Duchess  asking  me  to  visit  them  for  a  fortnight  in 
September.  Lord  Young  has  fourteen  children,  of  which 
number  Lady  Young  speaks  with  pride.  I  met  there  a 
Miss  Goldie,  sister  of  the  famous  Cambridge  University 
stroke  oar,  said  to  be  the  best  there  ever  was  in  that 
University.  Passed  a  pleasant  evening  and  was  invited 
to  come  to-morrow,  an  invitation  I  readily  accepted. 

One  of  the  daughters  sang  with  a  good  voice,  sweet 
tones,  and  a  natural  ear,  but  needed  some  cultivation. 
A  beautiful  sunset  and  exhilarating  six-mile  walk  before 
dinner  along  the  shore.  Lord  Young  is  noted  for  his 
keenness  of  intellect  and  yet  is  kindly.  He  is  a  smoker, 
but  does  not  believe  in  smoking.  He  is  said  to  be  one  of 


LORD  YOUNG  85 

the  best  wits  in  Scotland  and  an  eminent  judge  of  more 
than  ordinary  abihty  among  the  able  judges  of  Great 
Britain.  I  said,  "Smoking  must  sometimes  do  good.  It 
quiets  the  nerves."  "Yes,"  said  he,  "it  does  quiet  the 
nerves  of  a  smoker."  I  thought  that  perhaps  very  near 
the  truth.  A  beautiful  moonlight  drive  back  to  Edin- 
burgh. 

Thursday,  August  19 

After  lunch  went  to  28  Moray  Place.  (They  pronounce 
it  Murray,  as  home  is  pronounced  hume,  and  gold, 
gould.)  The  library  and  stairway  were  the  handsomest 
private  ones  I  have  yet  seen.  There  I  met  Lord  Young, 
who  is  Lord  Advocate  of  Scotland,  his  wife,  and  one 
daughter.  They  showed  me  over  the  house.  Walked 
about  the  city  with  Lord  Young,  who  pointed  out  Sir 
Walter  Scott's  house  where  most  of  the  novels  were 
written,  now  barristers'  rooms.  We  w^ent  to  see  the 
National  Gallery,  but  found  it  closed.  Back  of  Lord 
Young's  house  in  Moray  Place  there  is  a  garden  over- 
looking a  steep  dell.  Several  of  the  neighbors,  but  none 
else,  have  admission  to  it,  and  it  makes  a  delightful 
private  park.  Drove  to  Silverknowe,  Lord  Young's 
cottage.  Took  a  short  walk  with  Young  and  was  glad 
to  have  him  say  that  he  did  not  think  the  knowledge  of 
Roman  law  was  worth  the  expense  of  a  year's  study; 
for  I  had  been  considering  taking  a  course  at  Oxford, 
Cambridge,  or  Germany  in  that  subject,  but  hardly 
wished  to  give  the  time  to  it.  I  asked  him  if  he  thought 
the  knowledge  of  the  Roman  law  might  not  be  useful  in 
settling  doubtful  points  which  arise  in  our  law.  He  said 
it  had  been  useful  to  a  certain  extent,  but  that  now  it 
was  a  cake  with  all  the  plums  taken  out.  He  said  that 
slavery  and  the  social  laws  which  made  a  large  part  of 


86      HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

the  Roman  law,  of  course  have  no  appHcation  nowadays, 
that  New  York  and  London  probably  had  more  com- 
merce and  commercial  questions  in  a  year  than  Rome 
had  in  one  hundred,  and  that  the  mode  of  establishing 
testaments  was  very  clumsy,  while  their  land  was  held 
by  an  entirely  different  system.  He  said  he  believed  far 
too  much  has  been  made  of  the  Roman  law.  His  opinion 
is  all  the  more  valuable,  as  in  Scotland  they  make  a  point 
of  knowing  and  quoting  the  Civil  or  Roman  law  and  he, 
himself,  is  well  up  in  it. 

He  spoke  of  Mayne's  "Ancient  Law,"  and  thought  it 
not  worth  reading,  not  because  Mayne  did  not  know  his 
subject  or  did  not  write  well,  but  because  the  subject 
itself  was  not  a  fruitful  one.  (I  met  Mr.  Mayne  at  Sir 
William  Vernon  Harcourt's  dinner  in  London  and  he  is 
considered  the  best  authority  in  the  world  on  ancient 
law.  Indeed,  Mayne  not  only  wrote  the  masterpiece  on 
ancient  law,  but  developed  the  important  theorem  in 
the  history  of  law ;  that  law  is  in  the  main  the  embodi- 
ment of  the  customs  of  peoples.)  Lord  Young  approved 
of  Stevens  and  Brougham  highly.  At  dinner  we  talked 
of  John  Stuart  Mill's  writings. 

After  the  ladies  retired  I  explained  our  caucus  system 
of  nominations  in  America.  Lord  Young  told  me  several 
very  amusing  stories.  One  story  told  of  Lord  Young  is 
this :  As  he  was  presiding  over  the  trial  of  a  very  impor- 
tant case  in  which  the  water  board  was  a  party,  there 
entered  the  court-room  a  stout  man  with  a  red  nose  and 
blurry  eyes,  who  pushed  his  way  forward  to  a  conspicu- 
ous seat  in  the  front.  Lord  Y.  leaned  over  his  desk  and 
in  an  undertone  asked  a  young  barrister  who  that  was 
coming  into  the  room.  The  barrister  replied,  "He  is  a 
trustee  of  the  water  board,  my  lord."  Lord  Y.  then  said, 
"From  his  looks,  I  do  not  know  of  any  one  to  whom  I 


LORD  YOUNG  87 

could  more  safely  trust  water."  (I  later  heard  the  fol- 
lowing story:  Lord  Young  chancing  to  meet  Austin,  the 
poet  laureate,  asked  him  what  he  was  doing.  Austin 
replied,  "  I  am  writing  a  few  verses  to  keep  the  wolf  from 
the  door."  Lord  Y^oung,  quick  as  a  flash,  replied,  *'Do 
you  read  the  verses  to  the  wolf  .'^ "  —  a  bit  cruel  consider- 
ing Austin's  uncertain  reputation,  but  Young  knew  him 
very  well  and  their  acquaintance  would  admit  of  chaff- 
ing.) Lord  Young's  humor  was  not  biting  or  sarcastic. 
He  made  very  firm  friends  and  his  relatives  and  in-laws 
liked  him  well.  He  complimented  the  best  American  wit 
as  fine  and  delicate.  In  the  evening  there  was  family 
singing  and  they  made  me  sing  a  negro  song,  hearing 
that  I  knew  some.  I  selected  "Stop  that  Knocking  at 
the  Door";  I  also  sang  the  Irish  song,  "I  learned  Both 
Readin'  and  Wroitin'."  Passed  a  very  pleasant  social 
evening  and  have  made,  I  think,  some  real  friends  in  the 
family.  They  asked  me  to  come  again  when  they  are  to 
be  in  town  and  could  entertain  and  present  me  to  the 
Scottish  Bar  and  social  leaders.  Lord  Young  gave  me  a 
copy  of  Mackenzie  on  Roman  Law,  writing  his  auto- 
graph in  it.  Lord  Young,  three  of  his  daughters,  and 
Miss  Goldie  walked  with  me  part  of  the  way  back  to 
Edinburgh,  I  going  alone  the  rest  of  the  distance.  The 
moon  was  just  past  the  full,  and  the  sight  as  I  approached 
could  hardly  be  surpassed  in  any  city  anywhere,  un- 
less at  Athens. 


CHAPTER  VI 
ROSSIE  PRIORY:  LORD  KINNAIRD'S 

Saturday,  August  21 

Left  Edinburgh  for  Inchture  where  I  found  Lord  Kln- 
naird's  carriage  waiting  for  me,  and  I  drove  to  Rossie 
Priory  by  a  very  picturesque  route.  Met  Lord  and  Lady 
Kinnaird  in  the  study.  Lord  Kinnaird  took  me  out  for  a 
stroll.  He  is  interesting,  communicative,  and  extremely 
kind.  We  had  a  most  pleasant  and  varied  talk.  He 
showed  me  his  gardens  which  he  had  planted  and  his 
rockery  and  artificial  waterfall.  The  park  was  full  of 
people  whom  he  allows  to  come  out  from  Dundee  and 
roam  all  over  it.  He  had  swings  put  up  for  them  and  they 
made  good  use  of  all  their  privileges. 

Speaking  of  Plimsoll  he  said  he  could  sympathize  with 
him,  for  he  himself  had  worked  hard  over  a  bill  for 
improving  the  condition,  health,  and  safety  of  miners, 
and  though  all  the  while  men  were  dying  from  bad 
management  which  could  have  been  prevented  by  legis- 
lation, yet  it  was  ten  years  before  he  could  get  the  bill 
passed,  and  that  he.  Lord  Kinnaird,  well  knew  the  feel- 
ing when  others  would  not  take  any  interest  in  so  im- 
portant a  measure. 

Telling  him  of  Lord  Young's  opinion  of  Roman  law, 
Kinnaird  said  I  might  well  trust  it,  for  no  one  in  Scotland 
knew  better  than  he  what  was  important  in  the  study  of 
law.  At  dinner  we  had  Lord  and  Lady  Kinnaird  and  a 
young  man  who  is  studying  farming  on  the  estate.  Lady 
Kinnaird  is  much  interested  in  geology  and  paleontol- 
ogy, about  which  we  talked  a  little. 

Apropos  of  trusting  people  in  order  to  bring  out  their 


ROSSIE  PRIORY  >  89 

best,  I  explained  our  Harvard  Dining-Hall  Association 
system.  When  in  the  old,  bare  room  of  the  association, 
which  was  a  converted  railroad  station  on  Holmes 
Place,  there  was  much  noise  and  disorder,  and  some- 
times rolls  of  bread  were  thrown  about.  The  question 
came  as  to  allowing  the  association  to  use  the  new 
Memorial  Hall  with  its  fine  inside  architecture,  old  por- 
traits, and  stained-glass  windows.  I  was  then  in  my 
senior  year  in  College  and  President  Eliot  consulted  me. 
I  told  him  I  believed  that  with  better  surroundings  the 
men  would  behave  better  and  rise  to  the  confidence 
placed  in  them.  He  said  he  believed  so,  too.  I  was  ap- 
pointed the  first  president  of  the  association  on  its  going 
into  Memorial  Hall,  the  following  year,  being  my  first  in 
the  law  school.  Our  predictions  proved  true.  No  dam- 
age has  ever  been  done  to  pictures,  stained  glass,  or 
architecture. 

Sunday,  August  22 

Early  service  in  the  chapel  of  the  Abbey  at  8.15  after 
which  we  had  breakfast  at  9.30.  Walked  alone  until  the 
second  service  at  quarter-past  eleven.  After  lunch 
looked  at  some  of  the  pictures  in  the  Priory.  Many  of 
them  are  by  old  masters  such  as  Raphael,  Michael 
Angelo,  Van  Dyck,  and  Velasquez,  and  some  held  to  be 
unusually  good  specimens.  There  are  also  antique  busts 
and  altars  from  Italy.  The  old  English  families  had  a 
great  opportunity  to  secure  Italian  works  of  art  in  the 
early  part  of  the  century  when  they  could  be  got  at 
reasonable  prices.  In  the  main  corridor  leading  from 
the  front  door  are  some  ancient  mosaics  of  the  best 
classical  period  brought  with  great  care  from  near  Rome. 
One  of  these  is  quite  large  and  as  beautiful  as  the  mosaic 
of  the  Battle  of  Issus  in  the  Vatican.  Pictures,  mosaics, 


90      HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

and  other  antiques  were  bought  abroad  jointly  by  the 
Duke  of  Bedford  and  the  father  of  the  present  Lord 
Kinnaird  years  ago.  The  collection  was  divided  between 
them  on  their  return  to  Great  Britain. 

At  the  luncheon  were  all  the  grandchildren  of  Lord  K. 
and  his  son-in-law  Mr.  Ogilvy.  After  lunch  the  children 
took  me  to  see  the  fernery  and  set  all  the  fountains 
playing.  They  showed  me  King  James's  bed,  which  is 
really  very  handsome,  with  carved  and  inlaid  woods. 
Took  a  long  walk  with  Lord  Kinnaird  and  his  grand- 
children. Visited  the  fruit  gardens,  where  the  cherries 
and  gooseberries  were  under  nets  to  protect  them  from 
the  birds.  The  peaches  and  plums  were  either  trained 
on  the  walls  or  were  in  greenhouses.  The  fruits  will  not 
otherwise  ripen  in  this  climate  for  want  of  sun.  I  saw 
figs  growing  under  glass.  I  got  to  be  great  friends  with 
the  grandchildren.  All  these  are  the  children  of  a  daugh- 
ter, so  none  of  them  can  inherit  the  title,  which  will  go  to 
his  brother  whom  I  met  in  London. 

Dinner  was  at  7.30.  The  Kinnairds  are  very  religious 
and  have  three  services  on  Sunday,  but  to-day  there  was 
no  evening  service,  as  the  clergyman,  Mr.  Simmons,  was 
unwell.  They  belong  to  the  Church  of  England.  They 
have  morning  and  evening  services  on  week  days  and  all 
of  these  are  in  the  chapel  of  the  Abbey  close  by.  Passed  a 
quiet  Sunday  evening  with  pleasant  and  varied  talk. 

Monday,  August  23 

No  early  service  this  morning,  as  the  chaplain  was  still 
under  the  weather.  Drove  with  Lord  K.  and  his  son-in- 
law,  Mr.  Ogilvy,  to  Dundee.  First  we  went  to  a  sort  of 
reform  school.  Lord  K.  is  on  the  committee  to  carry  out 
the  work.  They  receive  as  an  advance  three  shillings 
sixpence  a  week  for  each  child  from  the  National  Gov- 


REFORM  SCHOOL  AT  DUNDEE  91 

ernment.  This  money  is  collected  from  the  parents  of 
the  children  if  they  are  able  to  pay;  otherwise  the  money 
is  made  up  from  the  poor-rates  and,  as  I  understand, 
then  returned  to  the  national  treasury. 

The  committee  has  authority  by  Act  of  Parliament  to 
take  in  any  boy  or  girl  whose  parents  are  so  bad  as  likely 
to  lead  the  children  into  crime  or  injure  them  through 
neglect.  The  child,  either  boy  or  girl,  on  being  examined 
by  a  magistrate  and  found  in  that  condition,  can  be  kept 
in  the  school  until  sixteen  years  of  age.  In  the  school 
they  do  useful  work  such  as  making  their  own  clothes, 
sewing  jute  bags,  making  scrubbing  and  blacking  brushes, 
splitting  wood,  and  the  like.  Of  course  they  also  study 
and  play  and  the  boys  undergo  military  drill.  If  they 
behave  well,  they  are  given  a  chance  to  make  money  by 
their  work,  but  this  is  not  given  them  immediately; 
instead  it  is  put  in  savings  banks  and  they  can  draw  at 
stated  periods  on  the  deposits  when  they  come  out. 
They  are  generally  treated  with  kindness  and  the  more 
trustworthy  are  allowed  to  go  about  the  streets  for 
certain  purposes,  and  several  are  apprenticed  to  trades 
or  to  farmers. 

They  got  up  a  special  drill  on  my  behalf,  and  when  it 
was  over,  the  spirit  and  eagerness  with  which  the  boys 
resumed  their  work  and  their  evident  happiness  showed 
the  success  of  the  scheme.  Boys  convicted  of  smaller 
first  offenses  are  also  allowed  to  be  taken  in,  though  they 
do  not  admit  criminals.  There  are  some  150  boys  there 
and  the  school  has  worked  well  for  thirteen  years.  The 
boys  are  said  to  be  kind  and  helpful  to  one  another. 
This  was  all  a  project  of  Lord  Kinnaird's. 

I  next  went  to  see  some  linen  works,  where  from  the 
flax  in  an  uncombed  state  they  spun  and  wove  all  sorts 
of  stuff  from  the  fine  linens  to  sail  cloth.    About  700 


92      HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

children  between  the  ages  of  seven  and  fourteen  were 
employed  by  the  mill,  but  by  a  recent  Act  of  Parliament 
they  can  work  only  four  and  a  half  hours  a  day  during 
one  week  and  six  the  alternate,  and  they  are  obliged  to 
go  to  school  every  day  but  Saturday.  For  carrying  out 
this  law  they  are  divided  into  squads  or  shifts.  I  went  to 
the  half-time  school  where  these  children  were  taught. 
I  examined  their  writing  and  heard  some  of  them  read 
and  recite  while  others  did  long  multiplication  for  me. 
Some  of  these  children  were  bright  and  on  the  average 
not  unlike  our  public  school  children.  The  building  was 
not  quite  up  to  our  public  school  standard.  They  said 
the  children  are  no  more  troublesome  than  those  of  a 
better  class. 

I  went  to  the  library  in  the  Albert  Institute  and  saw 
an  ingenious  arrangement  for  showing  instantaneously 
whether  books  were  in  or  out.  It  was  a  device  that 
seemed  well  worth  copying.  It  also  told  automatically 
when  a  book  was  out  overtime,  so  that  the  librarian 
could  see,  without  moving  from  his  seat  and  at  a  glance, 
when  any  one  was  overdue. 

Visited  the  Museum  and  Royal  Exchange.  I  was 
taken  about  by  an  agent  of  the  committee  of  the 
"Prison  Aid  Society"  for  employing  discharged  con- 
victs. A  month  before  a  convict  who  has  behaved  well 
in  prison  and  seems  worthy  of  trust  is  to  be  discharged, 
the  jailer  reports  him  to  the  agent,  sending  photograph 
and  statement  of  character.  If  the  case  seems  worthy, 
it  is  reported  to  the  committee.  If  the  committee  ap- 
proves, the  agent  then  goes  to  the  managers  of  the 
various  mills  and  makes  arrangements  to  have  the  man 
employed  without  having  the  owners  of  the  mills,  the 
overseers,  or  the  fellow-laborers  know  anything  about 
the  man's  career. 


LORD  KINNAIRD'S  PHILANTHROPIES  93 

According  to  an  Act  of  Parliament  the  discharged 
man  has  to  report  to  the  poHce  weekly,  but  to  save  him 
the  disgrace  of  this  and  the  chance  of  his  status  being 
made  known  in  this  way,  the  committee  has  made 
special  arrangements  that  the  police  shall  be  furnished 
information  as  to  the  man's  whereabouts  by  the  com- 
mittee. This  was  all  Lord  Kinnaird's  work  and  it  has 
so  far  been  successful.  It  has  been  in  operation  three 
years. 

Lord  K.  has  also  started  coffee  houses,  very  much 
more  successful  than  those  we  have  in  the  United  States, 
as  far  as  I  know  of  them.  There  are  fourteen  regular 
and  thirty  branches  and  they  make  money  by  selling 
coffee  at  a  penny  a  large  cup  and  soup  at  twopence  a 
plate.  The  management  is  put  in  the  hands  of  a  com- 
mittee from  the  poorer  classes  and  the  manager  of  each 
establishment  has  a  slight  interest  beside  his  salary. 

Those  coffee  houses  that  we  have  started  in  America 
are  run  from  above  as  philanthropies,  and  naturally  the 
working-man  does  not  like  to  accept  charity  and  takes 
little  interest  in  the  success,  but  here  by  giving  him  a 
control  he  feels  independent  and  self-respecting. 

Lord  K.  told  me  that  the  last  thirteen  have  all  been 
started  from  the  profits  of  the  first  and  succeeding  ones. 
As  a  result  of  a  recent  Act  of  Parliament  which  shuts 
up  all  liquor  shops  at  11  p.m.  till  8  a.m.  the  next  day, 
the  coffee  houses  are  made  still  more  successful. 

Drove  home  by  way  of  a  farm  and  saw  steam  plough- 
ing machines  and  a  reaper  at  work.  Lord  K.  showed  me 
a  farm  so  bad  a  few  years  back  that  his  tenant  gave  it 
up.  Lord  K.  took  it  himself  and  by  draining  and  sub- 
soiling  it  and  using  suitable  fertilizers,  it  has  now  on  it 
the  best  wheat  and  barley  crops  in  the  neighborhood. 

Played  lawn  tennis  from  tea  to  dinner.  In  the  eve- 


9^      HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

ning  played  bezique  with  Lord  and  Lady  K.  and  Angus 
Ogihy,  Lord  K.'s  eldest  grandson,  an  Eton  boy.  Lord 
K.,  who  is  sixty-eight  years  of  age,  occasionally  drops 
asleep,  but  wakes  up  again  bright  and  ready  to  play  his 
hand  well.  He  and  Lady  K.  get  up  early  for  chapel  serv- 
ices before  breakfast,  work  very  hard  all  day  for  their 
tenants  and  over  charities,  and  go  to  bed  rather  late, 
and  it  seems  to  me  they  do  not  give  themselves  enough 
rest. 

Tuesday,  August  24 

In  the  Dundee  "Advertiser"  was  a  notice  of  my  visit 
to  Dundee,  speaking  of  me  as  the  son  of  the  popular 
writer  of  ''Three  Years  Before  the  Mast"  and  the 
grandson  of  Dana,  the  American  poet.  This  is  St. 
Bartholomew's  Day.  We  had  a  full  service  at  11  a.m. 

After  service  I  worked  over  an  idea  of  mine  for  a 
machine  to  gather  up  and  bind  the  barley  and  wheat 
lying  on  the  ground.  Every  other  process  of  harvesting 
is  done  by  machinery  except  this,  and  it  requires  a  num- 
ber of  laborers  to  be  temporarily  employed  who  have 
no  other  useful  work  on  the  farms  at  other  times. 

After  lunch  went  to  a  flower  and  vegetable  show  at 
Inchture  got  up  by  Lord  and  Lady  Kinnaird.  I  was 
made  judge  and  awarded  the  first,  second,  and  third 
prizes  for  cut  flowers  arranged  in  beds,  which  I  was  to 
consider  as  to  taste  in  arrangement  and  harmony  in 
color  as  well  as  the  quality  of  the  flowers.  Drove  back 
and  played  cricket  from  tea  to  dinner.  After  dinner 
bezique  again  with  the  same  as  last  night. 

Wednesday,  August  25 

Rained  almost  all  the  time  before  lunch.   Cleared  up 

later  and  Lord  K.  drove  Lady  K.,  the  Reverend  Mr. 


CONCRETE  COTTAGES  95 

Simmons  and  myself  to  see  Macbeth's  castle  or  rather 
the  site  of  it.  It  was  on  the  top  of  a  very  high  ridge  of 
hills  with  almost  inaccessible  sides  except  from  one 
direction.  The  castle  must  have  looked  grandly  and 
have  been  as  secure  as  Edinburgh  or  Stirling.  Saw  also 
the  place  where  Macbeth  met  the  witches  and  the  Bir- 
nam  wood  which,  to  Macbeth's  horror,  came  to  Dun- 
sinane  castle. 

After  tea  played  lawn  tennis  with  Angus  who  would 
not  take  a  handicap,  though  I  beat  him  badly.  He  is  a 
plucky  young  fellow.  I  have  seen  a  good  deal  of  the 
Ogilvy  children  the  last  few  days  and  have  become  a 
great  crony  with  each  of  them.  They  are  clever,  jolly 
children,  and  very  easy  to  get  on  with  and  readily 
amused.  Played  cards  again  in  the  evening.  I  have 
breakfast  in  my  room  as  a  rule,  and  take  up  some  fresh 
figs,  apricots,  and  grapes  the  evening  before  to  eat  in 
the  morning.  There  are  very  extensive  hothouses  for 
raising  fruits  of  all  sorts  at  the  Priory  and  they  occa- 
sionally have  some  rare  kinds  at  dinner. 

In  the  afternoon,  before  tea.  Lord  K.  showed  me  some 
of  his  cottages.  The  newer  ones  were  built  of  concrete. 
Concrete  is  one  part  Portland  cement  and  seven  parts 
clean,  small  stones  or  gravel.  This  is  laid  in  solidly  so 
that  as  it  petrifies,  the  house  becomes  from  foundation 
to  ridgepole,  where  the  roof  is  of  the  same,  one  solid 
stone.  This  concrete  becomes  harder  and  harder  in  the 
course  of  years.  It  is  said  to  be  practically  waterproof. 
It  dries  quickly,  more  so  than  ordinary  plaster.  I  saw 
one  which  was  papered  and  the  paper  was  perfectly 
smooth,  although  it  had  been  on  the  walls  all  winter 
without  a  fire  in  the  house.  This  construction  does 
away  with  all  mason's  work  and  with  plaster  and  lath- 
ing.  Lord  K.  showed  me  one  cottage  that  had  been 


96      HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

built  by  one  man  and  two  boys,  none  of  them  skilled 
masons,  in  twenty-one  days.  Kinnaird  had  a  new 
method  of  ventilation  which  he  had  invented  from  the 
principle  of  the  inverted  siphon  and  connected  with  the 
chimney  flues.  He  showed  me  how  it  worked.  He  has 
put  this  device  in  all  his  newer  cottages. 

Thursday,  August  26 

We  drove  to  a  flower,  fruit,  and  vegetable  show  at 
Dundee.  There  I  met  the  American  Consul,  who  kindly 
introduced  himself.  Went  to  see  an  engineer  at  Errol 
about  my  invention.  I  explained  the  details  and  he 
gave  me  encouragement.  He  said  that  if  I  should  suc- 
ceed I  could  save  half  the  hand  labor  and  perhaps  all  of 
it  in  this  gathering  and  binding.  I  lunched  in  this  queer, 
dirty  little  town  of  Errol  and  got  back  to  the  Priory  at 
half-past  five.  There  I  found  Lord  Kinnaird  playing 
lawn  tennis  with  his  grandson.  I  played  cricket  till 
dinner.  As  usual  I  took  Lady  K.  in  to  dinner.  She  is 
bright,  well-informed,  and  entertaining.  It  turned  out 
afterwards  that  she  was  suffering  all  the  while  from  a 
splitting  headache  and  had  to  give  up  after  dinner  and 
go  to  her  room.  Talked  over  American  politics  in  the 
evening  with  Kinnaird  and  Mr.  Ogilvy.  (I  did  not  have 
time  in  these  visits  to  have  this  machine  built  after  my 
plans,  and  soon  after  returning  to  the  United  States 
some  fourteen  months  later,  I  heard  that  the  device  or 
one  very  like  it  had  been  patented  and  was  being  put  on 
the  market.) 

Friday,  August  27 

Left  the  Priory  to-day.  I  drove  to  the  station  at 
twelve  and  rode  on  the  train  as  far  as  Perth  with  Lord 
K.  I  had  taken  a  second-class  ticket  as  usual  and  he  had 


LORD  KINNAIRD'S  USEFULNESS  97 

bought  a  first-class,  but  he  insisted  upon  sitting  with 
me  in  the  second-class  carriage  so  as  to  talk.  He  showed 
me  from  the  carriage  window  a  high  precipice  on  the 
land  of  Lord  Gray  which  he  (Lord  K.)  very  nearly  fell 
over  during  a  hunt. 

Lord  Kinnaird  is  an  instance  of  a  useful  member  of 
the  House  of  Lords.  Not  being  so  mixed  up  in  active 
politics  as  members  of  the  Lower  House,  he  had  more 
time  to  give  to  useful  legislation.  For  example,  he  gave 
years  of  time  to  laws  for  abolishing  the  smoke  nuisance 
in  large  manufacturing  cities  in  England.  He  was  one  of 
the  pioneers  in  this  movement.  He  told  me  that  it  was 
very  discouraging,  and  he  thought  beside  general  apathy 
and  the  opposition  of  those  who  would  be  put  to  expense, 
one  of  the  chief  obstacles  to  getting  anything  done  was 
that  so  few  educated  Englishmen  had  any  scientific 
training.  He  thought  there  were  not  more  than  two  or 
three  members  of  both  houses  of  Parliament  put  to- 
gether who  know  enough  chemistry  to  understand  the 
burning  of  the  candle.  I  have  already  mentioned  some 
of  the  other  projects  to  which  Lord  K.  has  given  much 
time. 

I  may  say  generally  that  the  members  of  the  nobility 
do  not  use  titles  in  talking  to  one  another  and  do  not 
expect  their  friends  or  visitors  to  use  them  except  per- 
haps on  first  meeting  them.  It  is  only  the  servants,  per- 
sons who  have  business  relations  with  them,  and  trades- 
people, who  use  the  title  on  all  occasions,  and,  when  it 
becomes  necessary  to  use  a  title  in  calling  their  atten- 
tion, the  title  should  not  be  emphasized.  Friends  call 
them  Spencer,  Kinnaird,  Sir  John,  etc.  I  think  they 
like  to  be  spoken  to  in  just  the  same  way  that  one  would 
speak  to  distinguished  Americans,  such  as  Lowell  or 
Longfellow. 


98      HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

Beside  a  lack  of  scientific  education  I  was  surprised 
to  find  how  little  those  I  have  met  know  of  English 
history  outside  the  few  things  with  which  their  family 
and  neighborhood  may  be  associated  or  which  have 
some  recent  political  significance.  I  had  assumed  that 
every  Englishman  would  know  his  country's  history 
by  heart  and  could  give  the  dates  of  all  the  kings,  but 
I  found  they  were  not  all  Lord  Macaulays  by  any 
means. 

The  Kinnairds  belong  to  a  very  old  family  dating 
from  1176,  Radulphus  de  Kinnard,  under  King  William 
the  Lion.  The  first  Baron  Kinnaird  was  created  in  1682. 
The  family  used  to  live  in  the  old  Kinnaird  castle,  which 
was  of  mediaeval  type  and  uncomfortable.  Rossie 
Priory,  built  of  stone,  was  begun  in  1807  on  the  Braes 
of  Carse.  It  is  on  a  high  terrace,  is  extensive  and  impos- 
ing, of  delightful  proportions,  and  the  chapel  especially 
beautifully  finished  with  carvings,  stone  mullions,  and 
tasteful  doorways.  There  are  fine  specimens  of  rare 
and  varied  firs,  some  very  large.  One,  they  told  me, 
extends  its  branches  in  a  circumference  of  one  hundred 
fifty  feet. 

The  view  from  the  house  or  Priory  is  varied.  In  front, 
and  to  the  left,  one  sees  the  valleys  of  the  Carse  and  of 
the  Tay  with  cultivated  fields,  and  in  the  distance  the 
smoke  of  Dundee,  often  colored  by  the  sunlight  and 
purple  from  the  effect  of  its  remoteness.  The  ruins  of 
Moncur  Castle,  "hoary  with  age"  and  rich  in  legends 
of  Pictish  wars,  is  near  by,  but  dearest  to  me  is  the 
memory  of  these  good,  kind  people  who  have  had  their 
sorrow  as  well  as  their  joy.  They  lost  an  only  son  and 
heir  when  he  was  a  young  man,  but  they  make  the 
most  of  their  daughter  and  her  husband  and  children  — 
rather  pathetic,  it  seems  to  me,  with  all  their  outward 


PICTURES  AT  ROSSIE  PRIORY  99 

smiles  and  cheery  words.    The  pictures,  mosaics,  and 
books  in  the  Priory  are  worth  admiring  study.  ^ 

^  A  list  of  some  of  the  pictures  at  Rossie  Priory: 

Angela,  Michael.  Head  of  a  Slave. 

Bassano,  1510-1592.  Announcement  to  the  Shepherds.  Adoration  of  the 
Wise  Men. 

Bramantino,  1460-1529.  The  Nativitj% 

Correggio,  1494-1534.  Virgin  and  Child  with  Angels. 

Caracci.  Ecstasy  of  a  Saint. 

Diirer,  Albert,  1471-1528.  Virgin  and  Child. 

Dolci,  Carlo.   Head  of  the  Virgin. 

Gainsborough.  Sir  William  Pulteney-Johnson  (married  a  Miss  Eannaird). 

Hogarth.  Portrait  of  the  artist. 

Jan  Steen.  Dutch  mterior  ("Saying  grace"). 

Lely,  Sir  Peter.  Duke  of  Monmouth. 

Luini,  1475-1533.  The  Colombine. 

Van  Dyck.  Lady  Van  Dyck's  child.  Prince  Rupert. 

Velasquez.  A  servant.  A  page. 

Leonardo  da  Vinci  (probably  by  a  pupil).  Venus.  Portrait  of  a  lady. 

Morland,  George.  Pigs. 

Meissonier.  A  greyhound. 

Northcote.  Charles,  8th  Lord  Kinnaird.  The  Artist's  Brother  or  the  Fal- 
coner. Pope  Pius  VI. 

Poussin.  Four  landscapes. 

Raeburn.  Portrait  of  an  old  gentleman. 

Reynolds,  Sir  Joshua.  Sheridan.  Lady  Hamilton.  A  banished  lord. 

Raphael.  The  Resurrection. 

Rembrandt.  Portrait  of  the  artist.  A  lady  with  a  ruflf. 

Rondinelli,  1480-1500.  Two  heads. 

Roviney.  Lord  Kinnaird.  Lady  Kinnaird. 

Solario.  Descent  from  the  Cross. 

Spagnoletto,  Giuseppe  Ribera,  1589-1656.  Virgin  and  Child. 

Titian.  Portrait  of  a  lady  of  Colonna  family. 


CHAPTER  VII 

INVERARY  CASTLE:  THE  DUKE  OF  ARGYLL'S 
(PRINCESS  LOUISE)  VIA  THE  TROSSACHS 

Saturday,  August  28 

Drove  by  coach  to  Loch  Katrine,  passing  on  the  way 
Coilantogle,  Loch  Achray,  and  then  through  the  pic- 
turesque and  romantic  entrance  to  the  Trossachs.  I 
put  up  at  the  Trossachs  Hotel,  a  very  pretty  stone 
building,  once  a  shooting  lodge.  Sketched  Benvenue 
across  Loch  Achray  and  Ellen's  Isle  on  Loch  Katrine, 
sitting  near  the  beach  called  the  Silver  Strand  where 
fair  Ellen  had  her  first  interview  with  the  knight  of 
Snowden. 

I  shall  not  go  into  the  details  of  scenery,  but  must 
mention  the  intense  and  brilliant  coloring.  The  sun 
broke  forth  after  a  rainy  forenoon  and  lighted  up  spots 
of  green  grass,  red  heather,  and  warm  brown  shrubs,  all 
sparkling  with  showery  drops  in  the  sunlight;  while  as 
the  sun  conquered  the  day,  the  shadows  of  the  few 
clouds  still  in  the  sky  passed  rapidly  over  the  hills  like 
troops  of  dark  horses  and  the  glens  purple  in  the  middle 
distance,  the  gray  blue  of  the  more  remote  peaks  of 
Benvenue,  and  the  cobalt  of  the  sky  brought  down  to 
the  sparkling  waters  of  Loch  Achray  and  Loch  Katrine 
thrilled  me  with  an  ecstasy  of  delight  I  have  never  felt 
from  nature  before. 

Sunday,  August  29 

Went  to  chapel  in  the  morning  where  they  had  the 

service  of  the  Established  Church  of  Scotland.  We  sat 


THE  HIGHLANDS  OF  SCOTLAND  101 

while  hymns  were  sung  and  stood  in  prayer.  There  was 
no  organ,  but  a  clerk  pitched  and  started  the  tunes. 
We  sang  "Martyrdom,"  and  had  a  good  sermon  on 
"Put  My  Tears  in  Thy  Bottle."  In  the  evening  we  had 
Church  of  England  service  and  a  very  eloquent  sermon 
from  a  Presbyterian  (!)  minister  who  told  two  stories 
after  the  manner  of  Moody.  "\Mien  the  service  was  over 
there  was  some  general  singing  of  hjTnns  in  which  all 
joined.  This  latter  was  very  homelike. 

Monday,  August  30 

Hard  rain.  Old  St.  Swithun  again  at  it!  Very  little  to 
do  as  the  bedrooms  were  too  small  for  comfortable 
reading  or  writing.  There  were  no  bowling  alleys,  no 
reception  rooms,  and  no  piazzas.  In  the  afternoon  I 
tried  to  sketch  in  water-colors  a  lovely  view  from  my 
window,  but  the  damp  air  would  not  let  the  colors  dry 
and  the  mist  kept  obscuring  the  sight  of  Benvenue. 
Before  dinner  I  braved  the  rain  and  started  out  on  a 
footpath  leading  round  the  hills  and  close  under  the 
foot  of  Benvenue  to  Loch  Katrine.  It  was  a  rough  path 
and  seldom  used  by  tourists. 

I  passed  an  old  ruin  of  a  Highland  cottage.  It  was 
built  of  the  rudest  stones,  held  together  with  mountain 
bog  mud.  The  builder,  to  save  himself  trouble,  had 
taken  advantage  of  two  boulders  to  form  a  large  part  of 
his  walls.  This  gave  a  good  idea  of  the  former  poverty 
of  the  country.  Before  I  turned  to  go  back,  after  a  walk 
of  two  miles,  the  sun  suddenly  came  out  over  the 
mountains  and  produced  again,  as  it  were  for  my  spe- 
cial benefit,  rapidly  changing  but  very  beautiful  effects 
as  it  topped  first  the  tallest  trees  and  then  shone  on 
the  glistening  heather  and  on  nearer  and  then  on  more 
distant  hills.   I  passed  several  gurgling  water-courses 


102     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

coming  down  the  mountain-side  and  felt  well  repaid 
even  for  the  thorough  wetting  which  I  got. 

Tuesday,  August  31 

Rowed  over  to  Ellen's  Isle  and  wandered  about  for  an 
hour  there.  It  reminded  me  a  good  deal  in  shape  and 
woodiness  of  the  island  off  our  beach  at  Manchester- 
by-the-Sea.  Left  the  Trossachs  Hotel,  called  for  short 
"  Ardcheanacrochan  Hotel,"  to  walk  to  Inversnaid,  my 
luggage  booked  to  go  by  the  next  coach.  I  walked  to 
the  pier  and  took  a  steamer  across  Loch  Katrine,  as 
there  is  no  road  round  it.  Bade  farewell  to  Ellen's  Isle 
and  to  the  pretty  Loch  Katrine  and  walked  from  the 
landing  on  the  other  side  to  Inversnaid. 

Took  a  row  on  Loch  Lomond  in  the  evening  with 
some  young  Englishmen  who  sang,  "By  yon  bonnie 
banks  and  by  yon  bonnie  braes."  My  luggage  did  not 
come  because  no  coach  came  and  no  coach  came  be- 
cause there  were  no  passengers.  The  hotel  was  near  the 
pretty  waterfall  plunging  into  the  Loch.  They  put  me 
in  a  very  magnificent  room  of  huge  proportions  and  I 
was  without  even  night  clothes  or  a  toothbrush. 

Wednesday,  September  1 

To-day  I  began  my  visit  to  the  Duke  and  Duchess  of 
Argyll.  Sailed  by  steamer  from  Inversnaid  to  Tarbet. 
I  took  a  fifty-minute  start  of  the  coach  and  walked 
through  Glencoe  to  "Rest  and  Be  Thankful,"  a  dis- 
tance of  nine  miles  from  Tarbet,  and  then  waited  ten 
minutes  for  the  coach,  which  labored  very  slowly  up  the 
last  mile  or  two  of  steep  ascent.  I  secured  a  seat  on  the 
top  of  the  coach,  which  I  liked  better  than  the  driver's 
seat,  as  I  could  look  from  there  both  forward  and  back- 
ward.  It  was  very  exciting  going  down  the  steep  hills 


ARRIVAL  AT  INVERARY  CASTLE  103 

with  the  brakes  all  set.  I  felt  in  exuberant  spirits  after 
my  walk. 

We  had  a  very  jolly  guard,  who,  as  well  as  the  driver, 
was  dressed  in  red  coat  and  looked  very  old-fashioned 
and  picturesque.  He  wound  his  horn  at  every  occasion 
and  "set  the  wild  echoes  flying,"  and  as  the  horses 
rested  and  all  was  quiet  we  heard  the  "horns  of  Elfland 
faintly  blowing."  On  going  up  the  long  hills  the  men  got 
off  and  walked  as  is  the  custom  riding  in  these  Scottish 
coaches.  I  arrived  at  Inverary,  a  quiet  little  village  on 
the  west  shore  and  near  the  head  of  Upper  Loch  Fyne, 
where  is  the  Duke  of  Argyll's  place. 

There  was  no  carriage  from  the  castle  so  I  took  a 
local  cab  and  drove  up.  The  footman  at  the  door, 
dressed  in  Highland  costume,  did  not  know  that  I  was 
expected.  I  was  sure  the  Duchess  specified  the  first 
fortnight  in  September  for  my  visit  and  that  I  had  re- 
plied I  would  come  on  September  first.  I  took  her 
letter  out  to  make  sure  and  then  sent  in  my  card.  I 
had  not  mentioned  the  hour  of  my  arrival,  as  there 
was  no  exact  schedule  for  the  coaches.  The  ser- 
vant came  back  saying  it  was  all  right,  and  the 
Duchess  immediately  met  me  at  the  door  with  a 
word  of  welcome,  saying  that  she  had  been  looking 
for  me. 

I  was  shown  to  the  drawing-room  where  soon  the 
Duke  appeared.  It  is  very  cordial  and  pleasant  to  find 
the  head  of  the  house  ready  to  meet  one,  but  it  is  really 
more  convenient  to  be  met  by  servants  and  shown  to 
one's  room  first,  as  was  done  at  Althorp  House  and  I 
am  told  is  usually  the  custom;  especially  convenient 
after  my  long  walks  on  muddy  roads.  Having  been 
separated  from  my  trunk  for  nearly  two  days,  I  should 
have  liked  to  have  been  in  my  room  first,  with  razor  and 


104     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

access  to  clean  linen,  before  being  presented.  I  saw 
Princess  Louise  ^  for  a  moment. 

The  Duke  asked  me  to  go  out  with  him  after  lunch  to 
shoot  some  deer  which  were  doing  damage  outside  the 
deer  park,  from  which  they  had  escaped.  Off  we  went, 
the  Duke,  myself,  and  the  keeper.  The  Duke  stayed  on 
one  side  of  a  wooded  hill  while  I  stood  on  the  other, 
both  with  our  guns  ready  to  be  used  at  the  shortest 
notice;  while  the  "beaters  in"  drove  the  deer  toward 
us.  I  saw  two  roe,  neither  good  shots  as  both  were  in 
thickets  running  fast.  I  fired  at  one  of  them,  but  did 
not  hit,  so  I  failed  to  keep  up  the  reputation  of  my 
family,  my  father  twenty  years  before  having  made  an 
unusually  difficult  shot  at  very  nearly  this  same  place. 
No  deer  came  near  His  Grace  and  at  the  second  beating 
in  no  deer  at  all  were  started. 

The  gamekeeper  was  with  me,  and  when  he  saw  the 
sport  was  over  he  started  me  back  by  a  path  in  the 
woods  through  thick  underbrush  higher  than  our  heads, 
I  walking  in  front  of  him.  I  had  on  a  gray  suit,  not  very 
unlike  the  color  of  a  deer's  breast  and  neck.  We  sud- 
denly emerged  from  this  thicket,  between  the  leaves, 
and  there  I  saw  the  Duke  in  front  of  me  with  gun  lev- 
eled and  hand  on  trigger  ready  to  shoot,  as  he  took  me 
for  a  deer,  and  yet,  as  he  said  afterwards,  there  was 
just  something  queer  enough  about  our  motions  to 
make  him  hesitate  before  pulling  the  trigger.  The 
Duke  was  very  angry  and  rightfully  so.  He  said  the 
keeper  should  have  warned  him  by  calling,  as  we  were 
going  in  a  runway  much  frequented  by  the  deer,  and 
had  the  Duke  not  been  remarkably  cool-headed  and 

1  She  is  a  royal  princess,  daughter  of  Queen  Victoria.  In  Europe  the 
title  of  "princess"  represents  a  standing  sometimes  below  and  sometimes 
just  above  that  of  a  duchess.  She  is  the  wife  of  the  Marquis  of  Lome, 
the  eldest  son  of  the  Duke. 


PRINCESS  LOUISE  105 

experienced,  the  affair  would  doubtless  have  ended 
fatally. 

On  the  way  home,  at  the  Duke's  request,  I  made  a 
long  standing  shot  at  a  heron  some  four  hundred  yards 
away  on  the  edge  of  the  Loch.  It  was  a  good  liner,  but 
just  under  the  bird.  On  returning  home  we  all  had  tea 
a  little  after  five.  I  read  the  papers  and  talked  with  the 
Duke  and  the  two  very  pretty  children  of  his  second 
son,  Lord  Archibald,  until  time  for  dinner. 

A  bagpipe  was  heard  playing  outside  and  His  Grace 
said  that  was  their  way  of  announcing  time  to  dress  for 
dinner  —  a  rather  short  notice,  for  I  changed  my  things 
as  fast  as  I  could,  but  was  even  then  just  a  little  late. 
I  sat  at  the  Duchess's  left  and  probably  was  to  have 
taken  in  Lady  Elizabeth,  the  eldest  daughter,  now 
twenty-three  years  of  age,  who  was  on  my  left.  I 
apologized  for  being  late,  only  a  moment,  however,  as 
I  arrived  just  as  they  were  sitting  down.  At  table 
were  Princess  Louise,  the  Duke  and  Duchess  of  Argyll, 
the  Marquis  of  Lome,  Lord  Edward  Cavendish  (the 
father  of  the  present  Duke  of  Devonshire)  at  the  right 
of  the  Duchess;  Lady  Elizabeth,  Lady  Edward  Caven- 
dish, Lady  Victoria,  a  woman  artist,  and  lastly  a  sister 
of  Lady  Edward.  The  Princess  was  on  the  Duke's  right. 
She  is  good-sized,  well  developed,  with  a  German  cast 
of  face  and  a  slight  German  accent.  Her  ?*'s  are  gut- 
tural, for  example,  instead  of  lingual.  Her  table  man- 
ners are  not  at  all  German.  After  the  ladies  went  out 
the  conversation  was  mostly  on  deer,  and  on'  this  I  had 
not  much  to  add,  so  did  not  join  in,  otherwise  than  to  be 
a  listener,  who,  in  a  certain  sense,  joins  in  the  dovetail 
of  conversation  as  he  keeps  the  others  talking. 

I  am  much  fascinated  with  the  Marquis  of  Lome. 
He  is  handsome  and  strong,  with   delicate  features. 


106    HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

bright  complexion,  a  small  mouth,  very  light  hair,  and 
blue  eyes,  and  a  manly  and  kindly  bearing.  In  the  eve- 
ning Lady  Elizabeth  played  on  the  piano  very  well  and 
softly  so  as  not  to  prevent  conversation.  The  Princess 
talked  pleasantly  and  easily  and  showed  me  some  etch- 
ings of  hers  drawn  for  embroidery  patterns.  They  are 
original  and  really  very  graceful.  She  disclaimed  one  as 
being  only  a  copy  and  would  take  no  credit  for  it  at  all. 

(James  Russell  Lowell  told  me,  when  I  returned  to 
America  and  spoke  about  my  visit,  that  he  thought 
Princess  Louise  was  the  most  gifted  both  artistically 
and  intellectually  of  all  the  royal  family.) 

We  all  retired  about  eleven.  They  told  me  that 
breakfast  was  to  be  at  ten  in  the  morning.  Arrange- 
ments in  the  evening  were  made  to  go  grouse  shooting 
to-morrow  at  eleven.  Before  going  to  bed  I  looked  over 
some  autograph  letters  of  Queens  Mary  and  Elizabeth, 
of  Charles  I  and  James  I,  which  the  Duchess  had 
brought  out  to  show  me.  Some  of  these  were  histori- 
cally important  as  proving  some  points  of  history  other- 
wise unsettled. 

Thursday,  September  2 

The  valet  appeared  with  clothes,  hot  water,  bathtub, 
and  shoes,  at  8.45,  thus  giving  me  ample  time  to  dress 
for  breakfast.  It  was  raining  hard.  At  breakfast  were 
the  same  persons  as  at  dinner.  The  breakfast  was  very 
informal  here  as  in  so  many  of  the  houses.  The  Princess 
wore  a  dark  green,  well-fitting  dress  of  some  woolen 
material,  and  all  had  on  rather  rough  clothes,  which  they 
wore  until  dinner-time  at  the  end  of  the  day,  when  of 
course  dress  suits  are  de  rigueur,  except  that  the  Marquis 
of  Lome  wore  Highland  costume  —  kilts  and  long 
stockings  and  his  knees  were  bare.  The  Princess  has  a 


PRINCESS  LOUISE 


PRINCESS  LOUISE  107 

straight  back  and  carries  her  head  well  without  having 
the  slightest  appearance  of  stiffness. 

At  breakfast  the  servants  disappeared  after  putting 
the  food  on  the  sideboard  and  we  helped  ourselves  or 
waited  on  one  another.  The  ladies  seemed  to  expect  to 
wait  on  themselves,  even  the  Princess.  They  start  from 
their  seats  towards  the  side  table,  but  of  course  accept 
assistance  from  one  with  grace,  but  rather  as  a  bit  of 
Henry  Esmond  gallantry  than  as  really  necessary.  It  was 
all  so  very  simple  and  informal.  The  talk  at  breakfast 
was  cheery  and  pleasant.  After  breakfast  I  read  the 
"Times"  and  wrote  letters.  About  11.30  I  came  down 
and,  meeting  the  Princess,  asked  her  what  it  was  usual  to 
do  on  so  rainy  a  day,  and  with  that  she  proposed  that  I 
try  fishing,  for  it  was  far  too  wet  for  the  grouse  shooting, 
which  had  been  postponed  to  another  day.  She  went  to 
the  front  door  or  vestibule,  selected  me  a  salmon  rod, 
and  looked  about  for  the  flies,  but  could  not  find  the  fly 
book  at  first.  The  Duke  brought  it,  and  then  Princess 
Louise  got  out  some  flies  from  the  book,  showed  me  how 
to  tie  them  on,  doing  a  couple  herself,  and  then  made  me 
do  a  few  to  see  that  I  fastened  them  properly. 

The  Duke,  however,  thought  I  had  better  wait  until 
there  was  more  rain  and  the  river  higher,  when  the  sea 
trout  would  come  up.  I  then  read  Charles  Kingsley's 
"Westward  Ho!"  which  the  Duchess  suggested  and 
found  for  me. 

At  lunch  the  same  as  at  breakfast  with  the  younger 
children  added:  Lady  Constance  eleven,  Lady  Mary 
sixteen,  and  Lady  Frances  seventeen.  After  lunch 
Princess  Louise  spoke  to  Lord  Lome,  her  husband, 
asking  him  some  question.  He  did  not  hear  at  first,  as 
he  was  talking  to  some  one  else,  and  she  put  her  hand  on 
his  shoulder  to  draw  his  attention  in  a  gentle,  loving  way 


108    HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

which  struck  me  quite  pleasantly.  I  fell  a  bit  in  love 
with  Princess  Louise,  for  besides  her  most  agreeable 
manners,  she  has  many  fine  traits  of  character  and  is 
amiable  with  all  and  not  in  the  least  demanding  atten- 
tion, modest  without  being  retiring  or  sensitive.  When 
she  first  appears  in  the  morning  all  the  ladies  courtesy 
to  her,  even  the  Duchess,  the  courtesy  being  the  short 
bend  of  the  knees,  not  the  long  backward,  graceful 
movement. 

After  lunch  Lord  Edward  Cavendish  and  I  went  out 
fishing.  He  did  the  upstream,  which  had  much  swollen, 
so  as  to  use  the  fly.  I  stayed  lower  down  and  used  bait 
for  the  most  part,  for  the  fish,  my  guide  said,  will  not 
rise  to  the  fly  in  this  section  of  the  river  under  these 
conditions.  We  each  had  a  guide,  or  gillie  as  they  call 
them  here,  with  us  who  showed  us  the  best  spots,  un- 
hooked the  fish,  changed  the  flies,  or  baited  the  hook. 
I  got  a  pretty  fair  mess  —  sixteen  in  all  —  but  only  two 
over  a  pound  and  large  enough  to  require  the  use  of  the 
reel.  Lord  Edward  caught  three  fine  fellows  of  two  or 
three  pounds  each. 

I  came  back  in  time  to  read  for  a  while  and  dress  for 
dinner.  I  saw  Lady  Evelyn  for  the  first  time.  She  is  just 
twenty  years  of  age.  At  dinner  I  took  in  Lady  Elizabeth 
and  sat  at  the  right  of  Princess  Louise  who  had  the  Duke 
on  her  left.  Next  the  Duke  on  the  other  side  were  Lady 
Edward  Cavendish,  the  Marquis  of  Lome,  Lady  Ed- 
ward's sister.  Lady  Victoria,  the  Duchess,  opposite  the 
Duke,  then  Lord  Edward  Cavendish  and  Lady  Eliza- 
beth in  order.  Princess  Louise  had  one  large  beautiful 
ring,  beside  the  wedding  ring,  on  her  left  hand  and  two 
small  ones  on  her  right.  She  wore  a  handsome  cross 
hung  from  a  black  velvet  band  round  her  neck  and  two 
plain  pearls  for  earrings.   Her  dress  was  fine  white  silk 


THE  DUKE  OF  ARGYLL  109 

trimmed  with  glossy  white  satin.  Her  hair  was  well 
dressed  and  the  whole  effect  tasteful  and  quiet.  Her 
features  are  regular  and  she  has  a  distinguished  air. 

The  conversation  turned  on  American  subjects.  The 
Duke  could  not  be  persuaded  that  the  Fall  River  boats 
go  outside  in  rounding  Point  Judith.  He  said  he  was 
sure  they  could  not  because  these  boats  were  built  out 
on  guards,  and  he  thought  it  would  not  be  safe  to  sail 
in  the  open  sea  even  for  a  short  distance,  that  it  would 
not  be  allowed,  and  so  I  must  have  been  mistaken  in 
saying  they  did.  He  has  a  way  of  disbelieving  what  you 
say,  I  am  told,  even  in  a  case  like  this  where  I  had  sailed 
on  these  boats  myself  several  times,  knew  the  map  well, 
and  was  aware  that  the  rounding  of  Point  Judith  in 
the  open  sea  was  proverbial  for  its  roughness. 

After  the  ladies  left  us  the  talk  was  on  fishing.  As  my 
knowledge  on  that  subject  was  far  behind  an  ordinary 
Englishman's,  I  again  did  not  contribute  much  to  the 
conversation  except  as  a  listener. 

The  Duke  sketches  in  oils  and  one  or  two  of  his  things 
are  rather  good.  Lord  Archibald,  his  second  son,  has 
even  more  talent  than  his  father  and  has  done  some 
paintings  on  door  panels  about  the  house.  He  has  also 
made  some  funny  caricatures  of  his  father,  illustrating 
his  pursuit  of  geology,  philosophy,  and  the  study  of 
birds.  After  dinner  there  was  some  pretty  good  conver- 
sation at  times,  but  as  yet  the  Duke  has  not  come  out  on 
any  abstruse,  scientific,  or  highly  intellectual  subject, 
up  to  his  reputation,  though  I  tried  to  start  him  on  some 
of  these  topics,  especially  scientific  and  historical. 

During  the  day  the  Duke  pointed  out  to  me  a  hill,  I 
think  he  called  it  the  Gallows  Hill,  where  executions  in 
olden  days  took  place,  and  he  told  me  that  his  predeces- 
sors used  to  have  the  absolute  power  of  life  and  death. 


110     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

Friday,  September  3 

Breakfast  at  ten;  all  down  as  usual.  None  of  the  ladies 
here  breakfast  in  their  rooms.  Lady  Edward  asked  me 
about  the  passage  over  and  how  we  entertained  our- 
selves. When  I  mentioned  singing  to  my  guitar,  the 
Princess  asked  if  I  had  brought  it  with  me  to  Inverary, 
and  said  she  was  sorry  I  had  not  when  I  told  her  I  left 
it  behind  in  London.  She  wanted  to  hear  some  of  the 
negro  and  American  college  songs.  It  might  not  have 
been  a  bad  idea  to  have  carried  the  guitar  on  these 
visits,  as  the  English  are  fond  of  anything  new. 

Fishing  at  11.30  took  me  out  with  Lord  Edward  who 
went  up  one  branch  of  the  river  and  I  another.  Lome 
lent  me  his  salmon  rod  and  sent  after  me  his  fly  book  and 
flask.  How  kind  and  attentive  they  are!  Under  the  in- 
struction of  my  gillie  I  improved  much  in  casting.  Be- 
fore three  days  were  over  I  was  able  to  throw  the  fly  some 
eighteen  yards  or  more.  A  large  salmon  weighing  be- 
tween eight  and  ten  pounds  I  managed  to  hook  and  had 
to  play  him  for  more  than  ten  minutes  before  he  could 
be  taken  in  the  landing  net.  The  rod  and  line  would  not 
bear  its  dead  weight  at  the  end  of  it.  Walter  Brackett, 
the  celebrated  American  salmon  and  trout  sportsman 
and  painter,  once  told  me  that  it  was  important  to  keep 
the  line  taut  as  much  of  the  time  as  possible  so  that  the 
fish  could  not  rest  and  get  its  breath,  and  that  I  must 
remember  the  pressure  at  the  end  of  the  pole  was  not 
nearly  so  great  as  it  would  seem  to  be  from  the  amount 
of  effort  put  out  at  the  handle;  so  I  kept  the  pressure  up 
good  and  strong.  He  said  this  lack  of  suflBcient  pressure 
was  why  it  often  took  so  long  to  land  the  fish. 

My  guide  complimented  me  on  the  whole,  for  on  this 
visit  I  had  my  first  experience  in  fly  fishing  except  the 
fishing  for  some  rather  small  trout  when  I  was  at  St. 


THE  DUKE  OF  ARGYLL 


SALMON  FISHING  111 

Paul's  School  as  a  boy.  Beside  the  salmon  I  caught 
three  fair-sized  sea  trout.  The  lunch  which  I  had  car- 
ried with  me  I  shared  with  the  guide  and  took  some 
nips  from  Lome's  flask  which  proved  to  contain  some 
fine  Scotch  whiskey,  and  got  back  at  five  o'clock  in  time 
for  a  refreshing  cup  of  tea  which  the  Princess  poured  out 
for  me,  and  then  read  "Westward  Ho!" 

Before  going  into  the  castle  Argyll  came  out  and  met 
me  and  the  guide,  inspected  the  salmon,  told  me  its 
probable  weight,  and  asked  the  guide  how  I  had  been 
getting  on,  and  then  told  me  that  Charles  Francis 
Adams,  our  American  Minister,  tried  salmon  fishing 
several  times,  but  could  not  manage  to  cast  the  fly. 
The  line,  Argyll  said,  always  got  into  a  tangle  at  Adams's 
feet,  though  he  struggled  hard  and  got  very  red  in  the 
face.  Adams,  from  what  his  sons  say  of  him,  never  took 
part  in  sports  or  games  of  manual  skiU  and  was  there- 
fore at  a  disadvantage  in  trying  to  learn  this  very  difii- 
cult  art. 

The  Duchess  talked  most  agreeably  with  me  for  a 
quarter  of  an  hour,  speaking  of  my  father's  visit  in  1856. 
I  spoke  of  his  admiration  for  her  mother.  She  told  me 
about  Queen  Victoria  and  her  wonderful  sympathy, 
kind-heartedness,  and  interest  in  all  that  was  going  on. 
The  Duchess  is  the  eldest  daughter  of  the  celebrated 
Duchess  of  Sutherland,  the  mistress  of  Stafford  House, 
London,  who  was  so  great  a  favorite  of  Queen  Victoria, 
was  the  acknowledged  leader  of  London  society  in  her 
day,  and  who  was  so  hospitable  and  gracious  to  my 
father  in  1856.  The  Duchess  of  Argyll  was  Mistress  of 
the  Robes  to  the  Queen  some  few  years  before  my  visit. 
The  Duke  has  been  Lord  of  the  Privy  Seal,  Postmaster- 
General,  Secretary  of  State  for  India,  President  of  the 
Council  of  India,  member  of  the  Council  on  Education, 


112    HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

is  hereditary  master  of  the  Queen's  household  in  Scot- 
land, Lord  Lieutenant  of  Scotland,  and  has  held  other 
important  positions. 

The  Duchess  of  Argyll  is  somewhat  diffident,  and 
talks  in  so  low  a  tone  and  with  such  slight  articulation 
that  I  find  it  hard  to  understand  her  at  times.  This  was 
caused  in  part  by  a  serious  illness  not  long  before.  She 
is  kindly  and  thoughtful  of  those  about  her  and  demo- 
cratic and  liberal  in  her  public  and  political  views.  I  saw 
the  two  perfectly  lovely  children  of  Lord  Archibald. 

The  Marquis  of  Lome  and  Princess  Louise  have  no 
children,  so  Lord  Archibald  is  heir  presumptive  to  the 
dukedom  after  the  death  of  Lome  and  his  knightly 
little  boy  is  the  next  in  line.  Lord  Edward  returned 
about  6.30  and  had  not  had  as  good  sport  as  I,  for  he  had 
got  no  salmon  and  but  two  two-pound  trout. 

Many  of  my  friends  here,  as  in  London,  drop  their  g's 
in  the  words  ending  in  "  ing,"  saying  "  talkin' "  for  "  talk- 
ing," and  few  make  hardly  more  than  three  syllables  out 
of  "extraordinary,"  saying  "extrornry." 

Earl  Shaftesbury,  the  celebrated  philanthropist,  came 
in  the  afternoon  with  a  son  and  a  daughter.  At  dinner 
Shaftesbury  took  in  the  Duchess,  who  as  lady  of  the 
house,  as  always  in  Great  Britain,  they  tell  me,  and 
certainly  wherever  I  have  been  so  far,  waited  till  the 
last.  The  Duke  took  in  the  Princess  and  went  first. 
The  Marquis  with  Lady  Edward  came  next,  I  followed 
with  Lady  Edith  Ashley,  Lord  Edward  with  Lady 
Evelyn  came  next,  and  then  Honorable  Mr.  Ashley, 
son  of  Earl  Shaftesbury,  with  Lady  Elizabeth,  followed 
by  the  Duchess  and  Shaftesbury  himself.  I  had  a  pleas- 
ant, talkative,  and  well-informed  neighbor  in  Lady 
Edith  Ashley,  four  years  my  senior  and  daughter  of 
Shaftesbury,  and  quite  pretty,  too,  she  is.  Earl  Shaftes- 


LADY  ASHBURTON  113 

bury,  who  is  now  seventy-four  years  of  age,  looked  over- 
worked and  tired  and  seemed  hardly  up  to  much  con- 
versation. He  and  his  family  came  round  in  the  Duke's 
steam  yacht,  which  now  anchors  off  the  castle  in  the 
loch. 

After  dinner  several  of  us  played  a  game  of  billiards. 
There  were  seven  balls  and  four  persons  on  a  side,  the 
Princess  being  one  of  them.  It  was  called  "battle." 
The  game  was  exciting  and  brought  forth  a  good  deal  of 
merriment.  Talked  mostly  with  Lady  Victoria. 

Lady  Ashburton  was  expected  all  the  time  during  and 
after  dinner.  A  maid  appeared  with  the  luggage  by 
coach.  The  horses  had  given  out  some  sixteen  miles 
away  and  new  ones  they  could  not  find  there,  so  on  the 
maid's  report  of  the  dilemma,  two  of  the  duke's  horses 
were  sent  off  to  help  out.  At  every  sound  of  carriage 
wheels  or  ringing  of  a  bell  they  said,  "There  she  is! "  and 
a  footman  was  sent  to  the  door;  but  all  proved  false 
alarms. 

On  account  of  so  many  new  and  unexpected  arrivals 
and  many  of  them  ladies,  I  had  to  be  changed  from  my 
large  guest  chamber  to  Lord  Colin's  room  with  thought- 
ful apologies  from  the  dear  Duchess.  Lord  Colin  was 
away.  All  retired  at  eleven  except  the  Duke  and  Duchess, 
who  sat  up  for  Lady  Ashburton. 

Saturday,  September  4 

Lady  Ashburton  arrived  at  quarter  after  eleven  last 
night,  we  learned,  and  yet  did  not  seem  a  bit  tired  at 
breakfast  after  her  long,  fatiguing  journey  and  annoying 
delays.  She  is  the  widow  of  the  second  Lord  Ashburton 
and  is  between  forty  and  fifty  years  of  age  (nearer  fifty 
I  find  from  the  "Peerage"),  but  looks  hardly  forty,  she 
is  so  hearty  and  bright. 


114    HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

We  went  shooting  after  breakfast,  Ashley,  Lord 
Shaftesbury's  son,  and  I.  We  stayed  out  till  after  four, 
taking  luncheon  in  a  farmhouse.  Weather  was  "a  wee 
bit  soft,"  which  translated  into  American  meant  steady, 
fine  rain  all  day,  and  we  had  a  wet  time  of  it,  indeed,  with 
grass  and  heather  dripping  and  got  no  game  for  our 
pains.  We  saw  some  deer  in  the  park  which  the  Duke 
had  enclosed  this  spring,  but  they  were  not  to  be  shot 
just  now  or  at  least  we  were  not  asked  to  shoot  them. 

Tea  as  usual  at  five.  At  dinner  there  were  the  same 
persons  as  the  night  before,  with  the  addition  of  Lady 
Ashburton  and  her  daughter.  Honorable  Mary  Florence 
Baring,  a  tall  girl  or  rather  young  lady  about  sixteen, 
but  looking  nearer  nineteen,  and  Lord  Colin,  who  had 
arrived  during  the  day.  On  my  left  was  Lady  Edith 
Ashley,  and  Lady  Edward's  sister  sat  at  my  right. 
After  dinner  we  played  battle  again  at  billiards,  and 
after  that  I  played  a  regular  game  with  Colin  who  more 
than  doubled  me,  but  I  was  content  not  to  be  worse  off, 
for  I  play  billiards  so  seldom. 

Got  a  pleasant  letter  from  Lady  Russell  at  Pembroke 
Lodge.  After  the  billiards  we  all  went  out  to  hear  the 
echoes,  tried  by  shouting  through  long  horns.  It  was  all 
so  pretty,  wild,  and  romantic  with  a  bright  party  from 
the  house,  and  this  answering  to  the  peculiar  Scotch 
cries,  the  near  echoes  sharp  and  quick  followed  by  the 
dying  vibration  over  the  water  — 

"The  devil  mocks  the  doleful  tale 
With  a  merry  peal  from  Borrow  Dale." 

I  had  the  pleasure  of  helping  the  Princess  put  on  her 
shawl  as  she  came  out  to  hear  the  echoes.  The  ladies 
courtesy  in  saying  good-night  to  the  Princess  as  well  as 
in  greeting  her  in  the  morning.  All  retired  at  eleven. 


THE  DUKE'S  YACHT  115 

Sunday,  September  5 

Went  to  the  Kirk,  where  services  began  at  11.45.  The 
Princess  and  some  of  the  family  did  not  go,  as  the  ritual 
was  Scottish — very  like  our  Presbyterian — and  not  that 
of  the  Established  Church  of  England.  Walked  home 
with  Lady  Edward  and  had  an  outdoor  talk  with  her,  the 
Duchess,  the  Princess,  and  other  ladies  who  met  us.  For 
a  time  it  stopped  raining.  It  was  still,  however,  cloudy 
and  heavy.  In  London  there  are  but  twenty-six  inches 
of  rain  in  the  year  while  the  Duke  tells  me  that  in  Argyll- 
shire they  have  often  eighty  and  never  less  than  forty. 

After  lunch  read  and  wrote  and  later  in  the  afternoon 
all  went  on  various  walks.  Lome  took  me  out  to  see  his 
father's  yacht.  It  is  a  steamer  of  about  three  hundred 
tons  and  one  hundred  and  forty  feet  over  all.  It  holds 
about  forty  tons  of  coal  and  burns  five  tons  a  day.  It 
steams  eleven  knots  an  hour.  It  is  handsomely  fitted 
up  with  woodwork,  curtains,  cushions,  etc.  The  Upper 
Loch  Fyne  is  a  salt  water  tidal  loch  directly  connected 
through  the  Lower  Loch  Fyne  with  the  sea  and  with 
endless  channels  between  pretty  islands  on  the  west 
coast  of  Scotland,  and  the  family  take  many  trips  in  this 
steamer.  At  dinner  were  the  same  as  yesterday,  and 
Lady  Edith  Ashley  I  took  in  again  and  sat  between  her 
and  Lady  Ashburton. 

In  the  evening  were  prayers,  the  house  servants  all 
appearing.  There  were  eighteen  maids  and  ten  men- 
servants  present,  and  these  did  not,  of  course,  include 
the  stable  hands  or  farm  laborers.  This  shows  what  an 
establishment  it  is,  and  yet  the  Duke  of  Argyll  is  one 
of  the  poorer  dukes.  The  servants  all  remained  stand- 
ing until  the  others  were  seated.  After  prayers  and  when 
the  servants  were  gone,  there  was  general  conversation, 
but  no  hymn  singing.. 


116    HOSriTABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

The  Princess,  by  the  way,  has  a  separate  allowance 
from  the  Government  given  by  Act  of  Parliament 
amounting  to  £6000  or  $30,000  a  year,  with  a  dowry  of 
$150,000  besides. 

The  Princess  asked  me  to  explain  a  plan  that  I  had 
thought  out  and  said  something  about  for  raising  the 
Vanguard.  The  Vanguard,  one  of  the  newest  and  most 
costly  of  the  English  battleships,  was  sunk  in  a  collision 
in  about  sixty  feet  of  water  in  the  Irish  Channel  and  the 
Admiralty  had  been  considering  plans  for  raising  her. 
The  possibility  of  lowering  large  tubes  filled  with  water 
to  be  pumped  out  and  filled  with  air  so  as  to  float  her 
had  occurred  to  me;  but  it  flashed  on  my  mind  that  these 
tubes  were  unnecessary,  for  if  the  water  should  be  taken 
out  of  the  vessel  itself,  she  would  rise  of  her  own  accord. 
In  order  to  accomplish  this  I  had  thought  of  covering 
the  whole  vessel  with  canvas,  or  if  not  that,  at  least  to 
calk  all  the  cracks,  cover  the  holes  made  in  the  collision, 
and  make  the  vessel  as  tight  as  possible  and  then  pump 
out  the  water. 

But  in  order  to  pump  the  water  out  from  pumps 
worked  on  the  deck  of  a  vessel  near  by  (the  only  prac- 
tical way  of  working  the  pumps) ,  the  water  must  be  re- 
placed with  air  just  as  is  done  in  caissons  sunk  for 
foundations  of  wharves  or  bridges.  I  had  worked  out 
the  whole  question  of  air  pressure.  At  sixty  feet  of 
depth,  it  would  require  three  atmospheres  in  all,  two 
beside  the  natural  one,  or  air  at  a  pressure  of  forty-five 
pounds  to  the  square  inch.  Hydrostatics  and  general 
physics  I  had  studied  in  college,  getting  maximum  marks 
in  my  examinations,  so  I  was  extremely  interested  in  the 
subject  and  felt  confident  that  the  plan  was  practical. 

After  I  had  explained  my  plan  for  raising  the  Van- 
guard to  the  Princess,  Lady  Edward,  and  some  others, 


PLAN  FOR  RAISING  A  SUNKEN  SHIP  117 

they  got  me  to  explain  it  in  their  presence  to  the  Duke 
who  happened  to  be  coming  along.  He  had  had  some 
scientific  training  and  was  generally  looked  upon  as  an 
authority  in  such  matters.  Knowing  as  I  did  that  it 
would  be  utterly  impossible  to  pump  the  water  out, 
without  forcing  the  air  in  at  a  sufiicient  pressure  to  take 
its  place  and  to  overcome  the  pressure  of  the  outside 
water,  and,  assuming  that  the  Duke  knew  enough  about 
hydrostatics  to  understand,  I  told  him  exactly  what 
pressure  would  be  necessary.  At  this  the  Duke  im- 
mediately said,  "Oh,  I  see,  you  have  the  popular  fallacy 
that  as  air  is  light  itself,  therefore,  the  more  air  you  put 
in,  the  lighter  the  vessel  will  be."  He  said  that  this  was 
"a  great  mistake"  and  "your  plan  will  not  work."  I 
then  tried  to  explain  to  him  how  impossible  it  would  be 
to  pump  the  water  from  the  vessel  without  this  air  pres- 
sure. 

This  general  theory  is  an  elementary  bit  of  knowledge 
to  any  one  who  comprehends  the  principles  on  which  a 
pump  works.  It  is  only  the  pressure  of  the  ordinary 
atmosphere  that  enables  the  every-day  pump  to  raise 
water  to  the  height  of  thirty  feet  below  the  buckets. 
I  tried  to  explain  that  this  air  pressure  was  not  for  the 
purpose  of  making  the  vessel  lighter;  on  the  contrary,  it 
would  make  it  a  trifle  heavier,  but  so  little  that  this 
extra  weight  could  be  ignored  with  safety;  and  that  the 
pressure  was  solely  for  working  the  pumps. 

The  Duke,  however,  would  not  listen.  He  shook  his 
head,  smiled,  and  repeated  again  that  I  had  "been 
caught  by  this  popular  fallacy,"  and  gave  me  no  chance 
either  then  or  later,  when  I  made  a  second  attempt,  to 
explain  or  call  his  attention  to  the  pump  theory. 

(It  is  quite  interesting  to  note  that  the  method  I  then 
thought  out  has  since  been  successfully  used  for  raising 


118     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

sunken  vessels  over  and  over  again.  Sometimes  a  can- 
vas cover  has  been  used  and  sometimes  they  merely 
blocked  all  the  holes.  For  example,  there  was  the  case  of 
the  Yankee  in  1908,  and  the  Nero  raised  at  Newport.  I 
have  collected  some  twenty  accounts  of  raising  vessels 
in  substantially  the  same  manner.  Even  the  Japanese 
have  used  this  method  with  perfect  success.  The  latest 
case  is  that  of  the  Leonardo  da  Vinci  in  December,  1919. 
The  account  of  this  states,  "The  leaks  were  plugged  and 
the  water  driven  out  with  compressed  air."  ^  Since  the 
World  War  the  British  Admiralty  has  built  some  great 
tubes  of  concave  model  on  one  side  so  as  to  fit  onto  ves- 
sels, to  raise  some  of  the  merchantmen  torpedoed  by  the 
German  submarines,  and  where  the  holes  were  too  large 
to  be  plugged  up.  The  tubes  are  filled  with  water,  then 
sunk  into  position,  the  water  pumped  out  by  "filling 
with  air."  If  the  Duke  had  comprehended  the  scheme 
and  had  given  me  a  letter  to  the  Admiralty  endorsing  it, 
very  likely  the  Vanguard  would  have  been  raised  and  the 
method  adopted  ten  years  or  so  before  it  was.) 

One  day  as  we  were  entering  the  castle  the  Duke 
pointed  out  a  very  beautiful  and  rare  specimen  of 
pheasant  with  wonderful  coloring,  stuffed  and  set  up  in 
a  glass  case  at  the  left  of  the  front  door.  Shaftesbury 
and  I  were  walking  beside  him.  The  Duke,  pointing  to 
this  bird,  said,  "Darwin  tells  us  that  all  these  beauti- 
fully varied  colors  have  come  about  by  a  process  of 
natural  selection;  how  manifestly  absurd!"  However, 
I  observed  that  Shaftesbury  did  not  assent  nor  did  he 
or  I  argue  the  point. 

The  Duke  is  hospitable  and  kindly,  but  usually  rather 
silent  for  long  intervals  at  a  time.  He  has  reddish  hair 
growing  in  a  long  cowlick  over  a  high  forehead.  He  is, 
1  See  the  Boston  Herald,  December  30,  1919. 


LORNE  AND  THE  PRINCESS  119 

I  should  guess,  about  five  feet  seven  inches  tall,  slen- 
der and  active.  He  was  very  friendly  to  the  North 
in  the  Civil  War  and  used  his  influence  with  that  of 
others  successfully  to  prevent  England's  recognizing 
the  Southern  Confederacy.  He  is  an  eminent  and  use- 
ful man.  His  description  of  the  flight  of  birds  in  his 
book  called  "The  Reign  of  Law"  is  one  of  the  best,  if 
not  the  very  best,  that  exists. 

The  Princess  is  among  those  who  fail  to  sound  their 
g's  in  the  present  participle,  and  I  notice  that  Lord  Ed- 
ward says  "ain't"  for  "are  not"  and  "am  not,"  and  I 
think  I  caught  the  Duke  using  it  also.  Shaftesbury  told 
some  very  amusing  anecdotes  during  the  evening.  He 
thinks  that  the  Church  of  England  will  in  time  become 
-disestabhshed  and  that  it  will  not  suffer,  but  will,  on  the 
contrary,  be  made  more  vital  and  living,  that  the  lay- 
men will  have  more  interest  in  it  and  it  will  have  a 
greater  hold  on  the  masses. 

Stories  had  been  current  both  in  the  United  States 
and  England  that  the  marriage  between  Lome  and  the 
Princess  was  not  a  love  match.  These  stories  varied  in 
detail  and  were  somewhat  contradictory.  From  my 
observation  I  don't  believe  a  word  of  them.  It  is  clear 
that  the  Marquis  and  the  Princess  are  more  than  fond 
of  each  other.  One  reason  that  Lome  did  not  join  in  the 
fishing  and  shooting  was  that  he  drives  every  day  with 
the  Princess  in  their  pony  cart,  choosing  the  hours  when 
the  rain  holds  up.  They  often  chat  together  just  because 
they  like  to,  and  their  amiable  ways  together  are  too 
natural  and  spontaneous  to  be  merely  assumed  for 
effect,  and,  moreover,  it  is  evident  that  she  is  a  happy 
woman.  My  father  in  1856  had  seen  them  playing 
together  as  children,  Lome  then  about  eleven  and 
Louise  eight.   These  stories  arise,  I  am  sure,  from  the 


120    HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

not  uncommon  desire  to  detract  from  the  eminent,  to 
make  out  the  fortunate  as  ill-starred,  and  the  apparently 
blessed  as  unhappy  at  heart. 

Monday,  September  6 

This  delightful  visit  has  come  to  an  end,  as  I  leave  at 
12.30  to-day.  I  found,  however,  that  I  had  seriously 
been  expected  to  stay  on  according  to  my  invitation, 
which  read  for  a  fortnight,  and  all,  including  the  Prin- 
cess, were  kind  enough  to  express  regret  at  my  leaving 
so  soon  and  hope  of  seeing  me  again.  I  have  been  here 
just  six  days.  The  Duchess  pressed  me  for  the  reasons 
of  my  leaving  so  soon  and  asked  me  where  I  was  going 
next,  and  when  I  spoke  of  having  accepted  invitations 
from  Lord  Coleridge  and  Tenderden  she  proposed  to 
write  and  ask  them  to  postpone  these  visits  to  later 
dates.  I  told  the  Duchess  I  should  love  to  stay,  how 
pleased  1  was  at  her  suggestion,  and  how  hugely  I  had 
been  and  still  was  enjoying  my  visit,  but  that  I  did  not 
like  to  have  her  ask  Coleridge  and  Tenterden  to  change 
their  plans  when  it  might  inconvenience  them  to  do  so. 
I  felt  also  that  a  request  from  her  would  be  tantamount 
to  a  command. 

The  Duchess  gave  me  a  copy  of  "The  Reign  of  Law" 
in  which  she  had  written  her  name  "with  kind  regards." 
I  am  the  more  pleased  with  all  this  friendly  kindness, 
because  the  manner  of  all  the  family  is  a  little  stiff  and 
quiet.  Perhaps  it  is  a  Scottish  trait. 

Inverary  Castle  is  of  gray  stone,  machicolated  and 
flanked  with  round,  overtopping  towers,  with  a  back- 
ground of  a  fine  wooded  park  and  steep  hills.  There  are 
in  it  some  very  beautiful  tapestries,  several  portraits,  a 
collection  of  old  arms,  and  many  relics  of  the  hunt. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

LORD  COLERIDGE'S 

The  Cavendishes  left  in  the  morning.  I  took  a  boat 
across  Loch  Tay  to  St.  Catherine,  thence  by  coach  to 
Loch  Goilehead,  with  a  few  miles  of  footing  it  up  the 
hills  ahead  of  the  slow  coach.  We  had  a  damp-smelling, 
red-faced  coachman  who  was  incessantly  either  jerking 
the  horses'  reins  or  whipping  them,  or  both,  and  kept  up 
all  the  time  a  continual  "cluck,  cluck  —  hiss,  hiss" 
accompaniment. 

From  Loch  Goilehead  I  went  to  Greenock  on  the 
Clyde  by  fast  steamer,  at  nearly  twenty  miles  an  hour; 
then  by  rail  to  Glasgow.  Tea  at  Glasgow  and  by  night 
train  and  sleeping-saloon  car  to  London.  Very  com- 
fortable arrangements  with  more  privacy  than  in  our 
Pullman  sleepers.  Wliat  little  I  saw  of  Glasgow  was 
depressing,  indeed.  The  city  was  dirty  and  smoky,  and 
I  never  saw  so  many  drunken  people  about  as  I  did  that 
evening,  both  men  and  women,  drunk  and  dead  drunk, 
sitting  or  lying  on  the  sides  of  streets. 

Tuesday,  September  7 

From  London  went  by  afternoon  train  to  Honiton, 
Devonshire,  for  my  visit  at  Lord  Coleridge's.  Lord  and 
Lady  Coleridge  received  me  cordially  and  had  supper 
all  set  out  for  me.  As  it  was  late  Lady  Coleridge  soon 
retired  and  Lord  C.  sat  up  with  me,  sending  off  the 
butler.  As  we  started  up  the  stairs  he  gave  me  my  candle 
and  then  showed  me  my  room. 

This  room  was  a  fairly  large  one,  about  22x18,  with  a 
fireplace,  one  large  window  with  a  dressing-table  in  front 


122    HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

of  it,  and  the  sides  all  wainscoted  to  the  ceiling  with 
paneled  oak.  The  evening  had  been  damp  and  rather 
cool.  A  small  fire  was  burning  on  the  hearth,  and  I  sat 
in  the  cozy,  rather  large  armchair  in  front  of  it,  musing 
over  my  experiences  on  this,  to  me,  wonderful  trip  in 
England.  At  last  went  to  bed  and  soon  fell  sound  asleep. 
Some  hours  later  I  awoke  suddenly  with  a  feeling  that 
some  one  was  in  the  room. 

I  open  my  eyes,  take  in  the  situation,  and  remember 
my  surroundings.  The  fire  has  gone  out  on  the  hearth, 
but  I  can  clearly  see  the  window  and  the  dressing-table 
some  three  or  four  feet  from  it  and  silhouetted  against  it. 
The  rest  of  the  room  is  as  dark  as  ink.  I  listen  intently, 
and  in  a  moment  I  hear  a  grating  sound  as  of  a  chair 
moved  along  the  carpet.  The  sound  comes  from  my 
right  side  exactly  in  the  direction  of  the  armchair  in 
which  I  had  been  sitting  before  I  had  gone  to  bed,  on 
which  I  had  put  my  clothes  and  which  I  had  left  near  the 
fireplace.  I  am  now  convinced  that  some  one  is  in  the 
room. 

I  try  to  pretend  I  am  asleep,  but  my  heart  is  pounding 
like  a  triphammer  and  my  breath  comes  and  goes  so  fast 
and  so  noisily  that  I  know  I  am  betraying  myself.  I 
can't  any  longer  feign  sleep,  and  I  fear  the  burglar  or  in- 
sane person  or  whoever  it  may  be  that  is  in  the  room  will 
rush  at  me.  I  then  turn  over,  take  the  bedclothes  in  my 
hand,  throw  them  quickly  off,  and  jump  from  the  oppo- 
site side  of  the  bed. 

I  then  go  towards  the  dressing-table,  where  I  remember 
to  have  seen  some  matches,  stumble  over  a  chair,  seize  it 
in  my  left  hand  on  the  way,  hold  it  above  my  head  for 
defense,  get  hold  of  the  matchbox,  take  out  a  match, 
break  the  first  one  in  trying  to  light  it,  take  another  but 
the  head  snaps  off,  seize  a  third,  light  that,  and  then 


IN  THE  HAUNTED  CHAMBER?  123 

call,  *'Now,  sir!"  expecting  to  see  before  me  at  least  a 
stalwart  burglar,  but  to  my  amazement  and  horror  the 
room  is  empty. 

I  look  under  the  bed  and  behind  it,  under  the  dress- 
ing-table and  in  the  large  wardrobe,  before  which  I  am 
startled  as  my  candle  is  almost  blown  out  in  opening  its 
big  door,  glance  up  the  chimney,  and  behind  and  under 
the  armchair.  This  armchair  is  not  where  I  had  left  it, 
but  very  much  nearer  the  bed,  in  fact  almost  touching 
it.  I  then  go  round  the  wainscoting,  examine  and  feel 
all  the  panels,  but  can  find  none  that  is  loose  or  that 
indicates  a  secret  entrance.  Strange  to  say  I  find  the 
only  door  of  my  room  locked  on  the  inside.  I  do  not 
remember  locking  it  and  it  is  not  my  habit  to  do  so  ex- 
cept in  hotels.  Being  locked  with  key  on  the  inside,  no 
one  could  have  gone  out  by  the  door  and  locked  it  again. 
I  sit  down  in  the  armchair  and  try  to  calm  my  thoughts. 
Just  then  I  hear  an  old  dog  in  the  garden  below  baying 
and  growling.  Was  it  the  ghost  of  the  toothless  mastiff 
of  Coleridge's  "Christabel,"  answering  the  midnight 
clock  with  "Sixteen  short  howls  not  overloud".'^  I 
again  go  round  the  walls,  holding  the  lighted  candle 
close  to  the  panels.  Finding  no  clue  to  the  mystery,  I 
go  back  to  bed,  blowing  out  the  candle,  putting  it  and 
some  matches  on  a  small  chair  beside  me  so  that  I  can 
strike  a  light  at  the  first  sound  of  alarm.  I  meant  to 
stay  awake  for  the  rest  of  the  night.  Strangely  enough, 
I  fell  sound  asleep  immediately  and  did  not  wake  up 
until  I  heard  the  household  moving  in  the  morning  of 

Wednesday,  September  8 

When  I  came  down  to  breakfast  they  inquired  solici- 
tously, it  seemed  to  me,  as  to  how  I  had  slept  and  what 
sort  of  night  I  had  passed.  I  wondered  if  mine  was  not 


124     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

the  haunted  room.  I  said  nothing  of  all  this  to  any  of 
the  family,  but  merely  replied  that  I  had  slept  fairly 
well. 

This  was  the  nearest  I  have  ever  come  to  a  ghost;  all 
the  other  ghost  stories  I  know  of  have  come  to  me 
second  hand  and  most  of  them  third  or  fourth  hand. 

At  ten  minutes  to  nine  we  had  morning  prayers 
followed  by  breakfast  at  which  were  Lord  and  Lady 
Coleridge,  Mr.  Edward  Coleridge,  an  elderly  man  and 
fellow  of  Eton,  uncle  of  Lord  Coleridge  and  nephew  of 
Samuel  Taylor  Coleridge,  the  poet  and  philosopher, 
Mrs.  Edward  Coleridge,  and  Miss  Mildred  Coleridge, 
daughter  of  Lord  C.  They  served  me  with  some  delicious 
Devonshire  cream.  I  saw  them  spread  it  on  bread  very 
much  as  we  do  butter,  only  in  thicker  layers,  and  I  did 
the  same.  Coleridge  and  his  uncle  told  stories  and 
capped  verses  and  were  very  lively  and  entertaining. 
Coleridge  himseK  is  wonderfully  quick  and  bright.  He 
asked  me  into  his  study  and  I  read  while  he  was  writing. 
I  noticed  that  he  sealed  every  letter  which  he  wrote 
and  this  sealing  took  no  little  time.  I  asked  him  about 
this  and  he  said  it  made  a  very  good  break  between 
writing  one  letter  and  another  and  gave  him  an  oppor- 
tunity for  change  of  thought. 

Between  his  letters  he  read  me  two  of  Bacon's  essays 
from  an  edition  which  he  carries  in  his  pocket;  one  was 
on  the  "  Duties  of  a  Judge  "  and  the  other  on  "  Cunning." 
I  took  a  walk  about  the  grounds  and  inspected  the 
flower  gardens.  This  place  does  not  belong  to  Cole- 
ridge. He  has  only  hired  it. 

Lord  Coleridge  told  me  that  his  income  from  his 
professional  work  alone  was  lately  about  £15,000 
($75,000)  a  year  and  while  Attorney-General  he  made 
annually  £20,000  ($100,000).     His  salary  as  Chief  Jus- 


LORD  COLERIDGE  AT  56 


ENGLISH  FEELING  TOWARDS  AMERICA         125 

tice  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  is  £5000  with  a  re- 
tiring pension  of  £4000  after  fifteen  years  of  service. 

(The  very  next  year  his  salary  was  raised  to  £7000 
and  he  was  appointed  in  1880  Lord  Chief  Justice  of 
England,  the  first  to  hold  that  new  title,  which  had 
been  extinct  for  many  years.) 

He  showed  me  about  the  stables,  and  after  lunch  took 
me  to  drive  with  his  uncle  and  uncle's  wife  to  see  an  old 
fort  said  to  be  an  ancient  Roman  camp  called  Hembury. 
The  country  was  beautifully  green;  the  dark  hedgerows 
and  dense  trees  and  bright  flowers  in  the  fields  all  came 
well  up  to  my  idea  of  "merry  old  England"  in  this  rich 
South  Devonshire  country. 

Speaking  of  the  English  feeling  towards  America,  I 
said  we  were  rather  surprised  in  the  North  that  England 
took  so  strong  a  side  with  the  South  in  the  Civil  War 
while  the  South  was  built  on  slavery,  which  England 
abhorred,  and  it  was  slavery  that  had  been  at  the  bot- 
tom of  the  whole  muss.  He  said  that  he  personally  was 
not  on  the  side  of  the  South. 

(He  had  apparently  forgotten  his  early  war  views, 
for  in  Coleridge's  "Life,"  ^  in  volume  second,  pages  1 
to  34,  it  appears  that  at  the  very  beginning  he  did  side 
with  the  Southern  Confederacy,  though  he  was  still 
anti-slavery,  but  soon  changed  his  views  and  helped, 
with  the  Duke  of  Argyll  and  others,  to  prevent  action 
hostile  to  the  North.) 

He  said  that  the  upper  ten  thousand  in  England  had 
felt  very  jealous  and  bitter  towards  America,  which 
they  had  lost  through  their  own  stupidity  in  the  last 
century  and  now  found  to  be  so  great  a  rival,  and  added 
to  that,  said  he,  was  their  "pig-headedness"  and  want 
of  information  in  believing  that  all  the  gentry  were  in 

1  By  Ernest  Hartley  Coleridge.    D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  1904. 


126    HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

the  South  and  only  shopkeepers  in  the  North.  All  this 
led  them  to  take  an  attitude  which  had  not  surprised 
him. 

He  told  me  that  Charles  Francis  Adams,  our  Minis- 
ter to  the  Court  of  St.  James  in  the  Civil  War,  had  had  a 
very  hard  time  during  the  first  year  or  two  of  that  war; 
that  few  others  could  have  kept  his  position  and  dignity 
amid  such  scorn  and  sometimes  insult,  and  that  in  the 
end  he  won  very  great  respect.  "Adams,"  he  said, 
"and  his  work  on  behalf  of  the  North  are  not  half  ap- 
preciated in  America."  He  also  added  that  the  con- 
duct of  the  North  during  the  war  won  great  regard  for 
that  side.  As  illustrating  how  high  the  feeling  was  on 
this  subject  in  Great  Britain  during  the  war,  he  told  me 
that  the  only  time  in  his  life  he  had  ever  known  of  a 
dinner  party  being  broken  up  was  when  some  one  at 
table  had  taken  the  side  of  the  North.  It  must  be  said, 
however,  that  this  hostility  was  almost  entirely  con- 
fined to  the  majority  of  the  aristocracy.  There  was  never 
a  public  meeting  held  in  Great  Britain  on  behalf  of  the 
South,  while  there  were  several  for  the  side  of  the  Union, 
and  even  during  the  cotton  famine,  Lancashire  stood 
faithfully  by  the  North,  notwithstanding  the  blockade 
which  prevented  cotton  from  leaving  the  Southern 
ports. 

As  to  the  aristocracy,  it  should  be  stated  in  justice  to 
them  that  they  had  been  impregnated  by  the  diplo- 
matic and  consular  service  of  the  United  States  with 
the  Southern  pro-slavery  ideas.  They  had  been  told  that 
all  the  "gentlemen"  and  chivalry  of  our  country  were 
in  the  Southern  States;  that  the  Northerners  were  a 
race  of  shopkeepers ;  that  the  tariff  and  not  slavery  was 
the  fundamental  cause  of  the  war;  and  that  States  had 
a  constitutional  right  to  secede. 


LORD  AND  LADY  COLERIDGE  127 

No  one  had  been  appointed  to  a  position  in  our  for- 
eign service  during  twenty  years  at  least  before  the 
Civil  War  who  was  not  in  sympathy  with  these  pro- 
slavery  views,  and  the  higher  officials  were  almost  al- 
ways men  of  old  family,  good  breeding,  and  charm  of 
manner. 

At  dinner  were  the  Right  Reverend  John  Fielder 
Mackarness,  Bishop  of  Oxford,  and  his  wife  Alethea, 
who  is  Lord  Coleridge's  younger  sister,  their  daughter, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Edward  Coleridge,  another  Mr.  Coleridge 
and  his  wife  and  daughter.  Lady  Coleridge,  and  her  two 
sons,  Bernard  and  Stephen,  who  had  come  down  during 
the  day.  Lady  Coleridge  is  quiet  and  reticent.  She  is 
artistic  and  has  painted  some  pictures  that  have  re- 
ceived high  mention  and  some  prizes  in  exhibitions. 
She  has  n't  much  small  talk  and  only  joins  in  when  liter- 
ary, artistic,  or  other  subjects  that  interest  her  come  up. 

After  dinner  they  had  piano-playing  and  all  retired 
at  10.30,  after  much  interesting  conversation,  most 
stimulating  to  thought.  On  going  to  bed  I  reexamined 
my  room  and  again  placed  the  matches  and  candle  on 
the  small  chair  beside  me. 

Thursday,  September  9 

I  HAD  no  disturbance  during  the  night  and  slept  well, 
nor  was  the  armchair  again  moved  from  its  place.  Lord 
Coleridge  read  prayers  as  usual  at  ten  minutes  before 
nine.  The  household  servants  came  in.  In  reading  a 
passage  from  the  Bible,  Coleridge  paused  and  under- 
scored or  marked  two  or  three  special  verses  with  the 
gold  pencil  he  took  out  of  his  vest  pocket.  Played 
battledore  and  shuttlecock  with  Stephen,  who  is  in  his 
second  year  at  Cambridge.  Coleridge  sang  some  Eng- 
lish ballads  and  sang  them  well.  He  has  a  good,  mellow, 


128    HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

baritone  voice,  correct  ear,  and  a  great  love  for  music. 
It  was  really  a  pleasure  to  hear  him.  Bernard,  the  elder 
son,  and  Miss  Coleridge  played  piano  duets. 

At  noon  Lord  Coleridge  and  I  started  on  horseback 
for  Sidmouth,  a  distance  of  nine  miles.  The  day  was 
glorious.  He  was  extremely  affable  and  talkative,  tell- 
ing me  all  sorts  of  things  about  the  effect  of  large  and 
small  landowners  and  of  a  nobility  on  the  country  and 
its  people.  He  is  quite  democratic  in  his  notions,  at 
least  in  theory.  He  was  knighted  about  seven  years 
ago,  and  he  told  me  that  his  wife,  who  was  then  first 
called  Lady  Coleridge,  found  she  received  far  greater 
attention  in  the  shops  simply  on  account  of  her  title 
and  that  the  tradespeople  would  begin  attending  to  her 
before  others  who  had  come  in  ahead,  but  she  insisted 
upon  taking  her  turn. 

He  told  me  also  that  at  one  time  he  went  with  the 
Duke  of  Wellington  to  a  railway  station  and  on  coming 
to  the  booking  office  found  there  was  some  delay  about 
the  tickets,  the  man  asking  those  in  line  to  wait.  Then 
Coleridge  said,  "I  see.  Your  Grace,  that  they  make  us 
stand  in  line  and  wait  like  the  rest."  As  soon  as  the 
ticket-seller  heard  that  there  was  a  duke  in  line  he  im- 
mediately stopped  what  he  was  doing  and  insisted  upon 
giving  them  their  tickets  ahead  of  the  rest,  "all  which 
very  much  amused  me,"  said  Coleridge. 

At  Sidmouth  we  saw  the  dwelling  in  which  Queen 
Victoria  was  born.  It  was  very  simple,  small,  of  only 
two  stories,  close  to  the  beach,  with  only  about  two 
acres  of  grounds  about  it.  Coleridge  said,  "Would  any 
prince  to-day  live  in  so  modest  an  establishment?"  He 
pointed  out  a  small  house  at  Sidmouth  and  said  that 
when  he  was  first  married  he  hired  one  haff  of  it  for  the 
summer. 


WITH  LORD  COLERIDGE  AT  SIDMOUTH        129 

The  Sid  does  not  flow  directly  into  the  sea,  but  into  a 
small  pool  just  above  the  beach,  and  there  the  water 
wholly  disappears,  reaching  the  ocean  unseen.  Coleridge 
quoted  from  a  poem  on  the  River  Sid  by  the  Reverend 
George  Kestell  Cornish,  illustrating  from  this  our  ap- 
parent disappearance  in  death  before  our  souls  reach 
the  infinite  immortal: 

"Yon  stream,  that  from  its  furzy  bower, 
Has  toiled  full  many  an  hour, 
Yet  with  an  onward  course  and  clearly, 
And  at  her  labour  singing  cheerly, 
Lies  as  a  lake  —  and  pebbles  hide 
Her  union  with  the  rising  tide. 

"And  canst  thou  tell,  thou  loitering  one. 
Where  the  waters  are  gone? 
They  have  not  perished  in  the  earth, 
But  they  shall  rise  in  second  birth. 
And  soon,  from  all  pollution  free. 
Shall  join  the  everlasting  sea." 

Coleridge  unburdened  his  mind  to  me  regarding  the 
acts  of  a  certain  high  personage  and  his  own  experiences 
and  troubles  therefrom  when  Solicitor-General  and 
Attorney-General.  He  also  told  me  a  good  deal  about 
prison  discipline  and  the  great  amount  of  hysteria 
among  criminals,  and  many  of  the  practical  difiiculties 
of  keeping  men  under  close  restraint  and  how  it  had  at 
times  to  be  relaxed.  We  rode  back  over  Downe  Hill. 
There  the  road  ran  about  five  miles  along  the  ridge, 
affording  all  the  way  very  extensive  views. 

We  dismounted  at  one  of  the  finest  points  and,  on 
calling  my  attention  to  the  beauty  and  expanse,  Cole- 
ridge suddenly  remarked,  "I  suppose,  however,  this  is 
nothing  to  you  in  your  much  greater  country."  I  in- 
stantly replied,  without  thinking  how  rude  it  might  be, 


130    HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

*'You  forget  that  the  curvature  of  the  earth  there  is 
just  the  same  as  it  is  in  England  and  we  have  no  more 
extensive  views  from  the  same  elevation  than  you  have." 
He  burst  out  into  hearty  laughter,  taking  it  in  utmost 
good  part.  After  I  had  made  the  remark  I  felt  more  as 
though  I  ought  to  have  been  whipped  for  such  insolence 
from  a  youth  to  one  of  the  most  distinguished  men  of 
the  realm. 

Things  had  got,  said  Coleridge,  into  such  a  bad  state 
in  London  society  some  years  ago  that  the  Queen  was 
appealed  to  by  the  leading  men  and  women  of  the  king- 
dom to  come  back  and  give  drawing-rooms  and  become 
again  the  leader  of  society.  It  had  been  her  intention, 
after  her  husband's  death,  never  to  take  part  in  society 
again,  but  she  consented  and  her  presence  had  a  most 
wholesome  effect. 

We  got  back  in  time  for  tea  at  half -past  five.  At 
dinner  were  some  friends  of  the  family  including  a 
Madame ,  an  English  woman  who  married  a  Rus- 
sian and  whom  I  had  the  honor  of  taking  into  din- 
ner, and  who  told  us  something  of  Russian  society  and 
peasant  life,  with  the  great  contrasts  of  luxury  and 
poverty  between  the  upper  and  lower  classes.  There 
was  some  more  singing  in  the  evening,  Coleridge  doing 
his  part. 

Friday,  September  10 

Took  a  walk  with  Coleridge  to  a  near-by  church.  After 
lunch  tramped  with  Bernard,  his  eldest  son,  to  get  a 
famous  view  from  a  hill  about  three  miles  off.  Bernard 
graduated  this  year  from  Oxford,  and  we  found  a  com- 
mon topic  in  rowing,  for  he  was  captain  of  his  college 
boat  and  I  captain  and  stroke  of  the  Harvard  Univer- 
sity crew;  he  was  too  light  to  make  the  Oxford  Varsity 


SIR  JOHN  TAYLOR  COLERIDGE  131 

boat.  The  sliding  seats  had  only  recently  been  adopted 
in  the  great  races,  and  he  and  I  talked  over  the  develop- 
ment of  this  stroke  which  has  practically  been  the  same 
at  both  Oxford  and  Harvard.  Harvard  first  used  the 
slides  in  1872  and  Oxford  in  1873. 

At  four  o'clock  came  back  and  dressed  for  a  dinner 
with  Sir  John  Taylor  Coleridge  at  Heath's  Court, 
Ottery  St.  Mary.  Lord  Coleridge  drove  me  over.  Sir 
John  is  his  father.  ^Miile  waiting  for  dinner  we  went  to 
the  celebrated  church  of  Ottery  St.  Mary,  which  is  so 
remarkably  graceful  and  delicate,  and  walked  about 
the  grounds  with  the  beautiful  turf  so  green  and  smooth. 
Saw  the  flowers,  the  church  from  all  sides,  many  old 
headstones  in  God's  Acre  and  the  views,  chatting  all 
the  while  as  we  strolled. 

At  dinner  were  Sir  John  Taylor  Coleridge,  Lord 
Coleridge  himself,  the  Bishop  of  Oxford,  Miss  Coleridge, 
a  sister  of  Lord  Coleridge,  and  the  w4fe  and  two  daugh- 
ters of  the  Bishop  of  Oxford.  These  two  daughters,  the 
Misses  Mackarness,  are  well-mannered,  good-looking, 
modest  and  attractive.  The  younger  I  thought  the 
prettier.  (The  elder,  Mary,  was  next  year,  before  I 
came  back  to  England,  married  to  her  cousin  Bernard, 
w^ho  in  1894  succeeded  his  father  as  Lord  Coleridge  and 
later  was  made  Judge  of  the  High  Court  of  Justice,  the 
only  case  in  English  history  of  father,  son,  and  grandson 
occupying  in  turn  that  eminent  position.) 

Particularly  glad  was  I  to  see  Sir  John.  My  father 
had  told  me  that  he  thought  he  was  the  most  perfect 
gentleman  of  the  old  school  that  he  had  ever  seen,  and 
in  this  I  agreed  with  him.  Sir  John  is  now  eighty-five 
years  of  age  (he  died  the  next  year),  but  neither  age  nor 
feebleness  prevented  a  most  courteous  attention  to  all. 
It  sometimes  gave  me  almost  pain  to  see  him  rise  with 


132     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

difficulty  to  bow  to  the  ladies  or  to  get  a  book.  Every 
motion  of  his  had  grace  and  charm.  He  was  a  handsome 
man  with  beautiful  features,  almost  feminine,  and  a 
winning  smile,  and  yet  underneath  masculine  strength 
of  character  was  evident.  He  is  a  retired  judge  of  the 
Court  of  the  King's  Bench. 

Coleridge,  his  married  sister,  and  her  youngest  daugh- 
ter, Miss  Mackarness,  sang  a  trio  very  well.  How  much 
music  does  add  to  a  family  gathering !  We  had  a  beau- 
tiful moonlight  drive  home  after  this  delightful  evening, 
and  on  the  way  back  I  got  Coleridge  to  tell  me  his  views 
about  the  Trent  Affair  from  the  English  standpoint. 
He  admitted  that  taking  Mason  and  Slidell  off  the 
Trent  by  the  American  naval  officers  was  in  accord  with 
old  English  law  and  practice.  He  told  me,  too,  about  the 
probable  effect  of  the  new  Judicature  Act,  especially 
on  the  procedure.  The  procedure,  he  told  me,  had  been 
very  much  quickened  so  that  no  longer  do  the  old 
scandals  of  the  law's  delays  exist;  no  more  Jarndyce 
versus  Jarndyce.  The  procedure  gives  justice  much 
more  quickly  than  in  the  United  States  and  has  con- 
tinued to  do  so.  The  English  may  be  slow  to  reform 
their  ways,  but  when  once  aroused,  they  generally  make 
a  thorough  job  of  it. 

Coleridge  spoke  about  the  Alabama  Claims  and  the 
trial  of  these  at  Geneva  under  the  Treaty  of  Washing- 
ton. At  one  time  the  American  claims  for  "indirect 
damages"  were  so  enormous  that  it  came  near  upset- 
ting the  whole  arbitration.  Coleridge  told  me  we  owed 
much  to  the  tact  of  Lord  Tenterden,  to  whom  I  go  for 
my  next  visit,  in  preventing  the  whole  affair  from  be- 
coming an  abortion. 

He  also  told  me  about  Lord  Cockburn,  who  was  the 
English  judge  or  representative  on  the  commission  which 


SIR  JOHN  TAYLOR  COLERIDGE 

FROM  A  PAINTING  BY  MRS.  CARPENTER  IN  THE  HALL  OF  ETON'  COLLEGE 


LORD  COCKBURN  AND  THE  ALABA:MA  CLAIMS    133 

was  to  decide  the  affair.  Coleridge  said  that  the  At- 
torney-General's office  had  prepared  full  briefs  so  that 
Lord  Cockburn  might  be  ready  intelligently  to  discuss 
with  his  colleagues  these  claims  which  arose  from  the 
loss  of  vessels,  mostly  merchantmen,  destroyed  by  the 
Alabama,  a  war  vessel  which  had  been  fitted  out  in 
England  and  manned  by  Confederates  to  fight  for  the 
cause  of  the  Confederate  States. 

"Cockburn,"  said  Lord  Coleridge,  "was  so  sure,  in 
his  positive  manner,"  that  the  arbitration  would  never 
come  off  at  all  that  he  threw  away  all  these  briefs  and 
when  it  was  finally  decided  that  the  case  was  to  go  on, 
after  all,  Cockburn  at  the  last  moment  asked  for  copies. 
They  had  no  complete  copy  on  hand  (for  these  w^ere 
before  the  days  of  typewriting  and  manifolding)  and  it 
took  no  little  time  to  prepare  these  briefs  from  material 
on  hand,  and  pretty  much  the  whole  force  of  those 
familiar  with  the  case  in  the  Attorney-General's  oflSce 
had  to  be  set  to  work. 

The  briefs,  however,  by  great  effort  were  got  to  Cock- 
burn in  time  to  be  of  use,  but  when  Cockburn  got  to 
Geneva,  where  the  great  case  was  to  be  tried,  he  so 
quarreled  with  his  fellows  on  the  commission  that  he 
made  enemies  and  his  information  did  him  no  good. 
Cockburn  was  also  rude  to  the  counsel,  as  I  had  heard 
from  other  sources  as  well  as  from  Coleridge.  TMien 
Caleb  Gushing,  one  of  the  American  lawyers  who  was 
a  great  linguist,  asked  in  what  language  the  court  pre- 
ferred to  be  addressed,  Cockburn,  who  prided  himself 
on  his  own  linguistic  powers,  replied,  "In  Choctaw,  in 
Choctaw." 

The  award  of  $15,000,000  Coleridge  said  he  believed 
to  be  far  too  great.  (It  was  so  much  too  great  that 
Congress  has  never  distributed  the  whole  of  it  on  the 


134     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

ground  that  some  classes  of  claims  allowed  by  the  de- 
cision were  really  invalid.) 

After  the  case  was  decided,  Lord  Cockburn,  said 
Coleridge,  uttered  many  bitter  and  unpleasant  remarks 
about  the  decision  and  against  Americans.  Coleridge 
said  that  $15,000,000,  which  was  so  large  as  compared 
to  the  merits  of  the  case,  would  have  been  but  a  very 
small  sum,  indeed,  to  pay  had  England  thereby  re- 
gained the  friendship  of  America,  but  Cockburn,  by  his 
words  and  acts,  did  all  he  could  to  prevent  a  con- 
summation so  devoutly  to  be  wished. 

Saturday,  September  11 

Up  at  7.15;  breakfasted  at  7.45  and  left  at  8.15,  some 
three  quarters  of  an  hour  before  the  usual  breakfast 
time,  but  dear  Lord  Coleridge  got  up  early,  breakfasted 
with  me,  and  saw  me  off.  How  kind  and  attentive  he 
has  been  to  me,  of  course  largely  on  my  father's  account, 
but  I  hope  a  little  on  my  own.  He  has  talked  much  and 
freely  with  me  and  has  been  like  a  good,  kind  uncle. 

Coleridge  is  tall,  I  should  judge  six  feet  two  inches. 
The  most  striking  thing  about  him  to  me  is  his  fine- 
shaped  head  and  broad  forehead,  over  deep-set,  large, 
and  handsome  eyes.  His  nose  is  a  trifle  long,  his  upper 
lip  short,  with  a  beautifully  moulded  chin  and  mouth 
and  very  expressive  lips,  and  he  has  an  almost  boyish 
freshness  of  complexion,  though  he  is  nearly  fifty-five 
years  old. 


CHAPTER  IX 

LORD  TENTERDEN'S 

Left  Honiton  by  early  train  on  way  to  Lynmouth  for 
my  visit  with  Lord  Tenterden.  From  Crediton  to 
Barnstaple  —  some  forty  miles  —  I  rode  on  the  engine. 
On  the  locomotives  in  England  they  have  no  cabs,  but 
only  windshields.  I  asked  the  engineer  about  this,  and 
he  said  that  in  cold  weather  they  sometimes  wished 
they  had  a  covering,  but  on  the  whole  they  got  hardened 
to  their  work.  I  told  him  about  our  American  air- 
brakes worked  from  the  engine,  which  they  have  not 
yet  adopted  in  England,  and  in  return  I  got  some  in- 
formation from  him  of  no  little  value  to  one  so  much 
interested  as  I  am  in  mechanics. 

I  explained  to  him  that  our  American  railroads  could 
not  be  built  as  thoroughly  and  well  as  the  English  on 
account  of  the  greater  distances  to  be  covered  in  our 
country.  We  have  some  70,000  miles  of  railroads,  while 
in  all  the  British  Isles  —  England,  Scotland,  Wales, 
and  Ireland  —  there  are  only  16,000;  that  is,  the  Eng- 
lish railroads  put  together  can  go  less  than  two  thirds 
around  the  world  while  the  American  can  go  nearly 
three  times  around.  Stopped  for  a  half -hour  at  Exeter 
and  visited  the  Cathedral  where  they  were  making 
restorations  and  improvements,  some  of  which  seemed 
rather  finical  in  places,  but,  on  the  whole,  the  effect  was 
very  beautiful.  The  roof  is  all  stone  of  the  fan-tracery 
style.  Stayed  an  hour  at  Ilfracombe,  the  end  of  the 
railroad,  and  looked  out  on  the  beautiful  sea  view. 

After  lunch  left  by  coach  for  Lynmouth,  catching  on 
the  way  some  glimpses  of  the  sea  between  high  cliffs 


136     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

and  ascending  and  descending  the  steepest  hills  I  was 
ever  on  in  any  vehicle  drawn  by  horses.  On  the  steepest 
descents  they  put  under  the  wheels  steel  shoes  held  by 
stout  chains.  Lord  Tenterden,  whom  I  am  to  visit, 
met  me  at  Lynton  and  drove  me  down  to  his  pretty 
cottage,  *'Woodside,"  as  it  is  called,  at  Lynmouth.  I 
saw  Lady  Tenterden  and  the  children.  Lady  Tenterden 
is  pleasant,  kindly,  and  humorous.  She  is  Irish  by  birth 
and  has  Irish  wit  and  fancy.  We  all  drove  over  this 
first  evening  to  dine  with  Mr.  Bailey,  the  country 
squire  of  the  neighborhood.  His  place  is  called  "Lee 
Abbey."  It  is  large  and  spacious  and  architecturally 
good.  There  I  met  two  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pollocks,  brothers- 
and  sisters-in-law  of  Sir  Frederick  Pollock,  the  judge  who 
was  so  kind  to  me  in  London  and  who  has  lately  been 
appointed,  as  I  have  just  learned,  the  Queen's  Remem- 
brancer, a  sinecure  office.  The  ladies  are  sisters  of 
"Squire"  Bailey.  The  late  Chief  Baron  Pollock,  the 
father  of  the  three  Pollocks  I  know,  had  twelve  sons 
averaging  over  six  feet  one  inch  in  height,  so  he  is  said 
to  have  had  seventy-three  feet  of  sons. 

After  dinner  some  of  the  ladies  sang  and  then  all 
played  pool  and  billiards.  We  had  a  moonlight  drive 
home  through  the  Valley  of  the  Hocks,  a  most  desolate 
region,  bare  of  any  vegetation  whatsoever  and  with 
huge  boulders  and  square  masses  of  stone  piled  reck- 
lessly on  one  another.  The  scenery  of  North  Devon- 
shire is  very  grand,  a  great  contrast  to  that  I  have  just 
seen  in  the  south.  The  hifis  and  high  moors  are  nearly 
bare  of  trees  except  in  clefts  and  narrow  vales.  At 
Lynmouth,  on  the  other  hand,  shielded  by  high  ridges, 
there  are  endless  trees,  brakes,  and  shrubs  of  many 
varieties,  with  a  lovely,  running  river  gurgling  over 
rapids  and  under  bridges  to  the  sea.    Southey,  who 


NORTH  DEVONSHIRE  AND  LORD  TENTERDEN  137 

traveled  far  and  wide,  said  Lynmouth  was  one  of  the 
three  most  beautiful  places  he  had  ever  known.  The 
high  moors  of  North  Devonshire  come  to  the  very  edge 
of  the  sea,  which  seems  to  have  eaten  into  them  so  that 
they  end  abruptly  in  steep  precipices  from  five  hundred 
to  eight  hundred  feet  perpendicular.  "Woodside"  is 
nestled  in  Lynmouth  valley,  and  has,  on  each  side, 
lofty  hills  more  steep  than  any  I  saw  in  Scotland,  though 
not  so  high. 

Sunday,  September  12 

Wrote  letters,  attended  church,  and  walked  to  the 
pebbly  beach  in  the  morning.  In  the  afternoon  took  a 
long  stretch  of  seven  miles  partly  over  very  rough 
ground.  Tenterden  had  to  take  up  some  international 
affairs  in  the  forenoon.  The  afternoon  walk  was  with 
him  through  the  valley  of  the  East  Lyn.  "Ham"  is  a 
common  suffix  here  for  the  names  of  villages,  as  "Mid- 
dleham."  The  root  is  that  in  our  word  "hamlet."  We 
saw  some  charming  scenery  of  great  contrasts  —  water- 
falls, woods,  ferns,  steep  hills,  bare  rocks  of  varied 
shapes,  pretty  bridges,  quiet  pools,  foaming  rapids,  and 
much  brilliant  green,  and  many,  many  bright  flowers. 

On  Sundays  there  are  no  mails  in  England  and  all  the 
telegraph  offices  are  closed  excepting  for  the  Govern- 
ment service  alone.  Tenterden  showed  me  some  tele- 
grams that  he,  as  the  head  of  the  Foreign  Office,  had 
just  received  this  Sunday  morning  from  Constantinople, 
with  important  bearing  on  the  Eastern  question.  These 
had  not  been  forwarded  to  the  Foreign  Minister,  and  it 
was  great  fun  to  read  them  in  this  confidential  man- 
ner before  any  of  the  Cabinet  knew  of  their  contents. 
Tenterden  has  a  wonderful  memory  and  posts  himself 
up  on  all  the  geography  and  names  of  persons  as  well  as 


138    HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

informing  himself  on  the  great  issues,  but  with  all  his 
stud3%  knowledge,  responsibility,  and  influence,  there 
is  something  more  —  a  human  side  of  cheer,  tact,  good- 
will, fun,  kindness,  and  laughter.  I  wonder  if  it  was 
not  more  the  human  side  than  the  intellectual  that  en- 
abled him  to  preserve  the  Alabama  arbitration  from 
collapse.  He  is  a  man  to  win  both  admiration  and  af- 
fection. 

Monday,  September  13 

Strolled  along  the  North  Walk,  as  it  is  called,  to  Lee 
Abbey.  This  is  a  path  cut  in  the  side  of  the  steep  hills 
near  the  top,  with  a  sheer  precipice  of  five  hundred  feet 
or  so  below  us  and  guarded  by  a  low  stone  parapet.  At 
the  Abbey  Tenterden  and  I  lunched.  After  lunch  we 
had  a  try  at  archery,  m  which  the  others  were  skilled, 
but  I  did  fairly  well  for  a  beginner,  they  made  me  think. 
We  then  walked  to  Duty  Point  from  which  the  only 
daughter  of  Sir  Edward  de  Whichehalse  threw  herself 
down  when  she  was  deserted  by  her  lover,  a  favorite  of 
James  II.  The  precipice  is  some  five  hundred  feet  per- 
pendicular. We  passed  Castle  Rock,  a  huge  promontory 
six  or  seven  hundred  feet  high,  of  square  blocks  of  stone 
and  looking  very  like  a  ruined,  cyclopean  castle  of 
enormous  proportions. 

In  the  evening  dined  at  Dr.  Julius  Pollock's,  where 
were  Lord  and  Lady  Tenterden,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Pollock, 
and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rowcliife.  Mr.  Rowcliffe,  a  Queen's 
Councilor  of  much  ability,  has  now  lost  his  health  from 
overwork.  Mrs.  Rowcliffe  is  handsome,  witty,  and  a 
brilliant  talker  and  raconteur. 

(Some  years  later,  the  first  Lady  Tenterden  and  Mr. 
Rowcliffe  having  died,  Lord  Tenterden  married  Mrs. 
Rowcliffe  and  a  delightful  pair  they  must  have  made.) 


DEER-HUNTING  AT  EXMOOR  139 

Tuesday,  September  14 

Drove  to  a  meet  at  Exmoor.  Exmoor  is  a  high  plateau 
near  the  sea  and  in  places  from  1500  to  1600  feet  above 
high  tide  mark.  Here  is  said  to  be  the  only  place  in 
England  where  the  red  deer  is  found  wild.  Only  fifty 
years  ago  the  country  hereabouts  was  almost  unknown, 
with  no  roads,  only  mule  paths  leading  to  the  interior. 
It  was  for  a  long  time,  in  fact  till  free  trade  came  in,  the 
haunt  of  smugglers,  and  as  late  as  Queen  Anne's  time 
there  were  bands  of  robbers  in  the  vicinity.  We  drove 
in  a  carriage  together,  Tenterden,  Mrs.  Julius  Pollock, 
Mrs.  Rowcliffe,  and  myself.  About  two  o'clock  a  fine 
stag  was  started  by  the  hounds,  and,  trying  to  leap 
across  a  sunken  road  just  ahead  of  us,  he  struck  on  the 
opposite  bank  and  broke  his  leg.  He  was  easily  caught 
and  killed  near  our  carriage.  Later  another  start  was 
made  and  off  went  the  hunters,  with  here  and  there 
a  red  coat,  over  heath  and  heather,  down  one  valley 
and  up  the  opposite  hill,  following  the  hounds.  Soon 
they  all  appeared  silhouetted  against  the  sky  on  the 
high  horizon,  then  they  disappeared  slowly  and  left 
us  to  envy  their  enjoyment  and  plan  for  our  return 
home. 

Exmoor  is  the  romantic  setting  for  Blackmore's 
"Lorna  Doone,"  of  which  they  tell  me  the  story,  I  not 
having  read  the  book.  Tenterden  then  took  me  to  walk 
by  way  of  Glenthorne,  the  seat  of  Mr.  Halliday,  where 
we  called,  but  found  them  all  out.  We  had  a  fascinating 
and  wild  walk,  part  of  the  way  on  a  narrow  path  on  the 
side  of  a  precipice  with  no  outer  wall.  On  arriving  home 
my  pedometer  registered  eleven  miles. 

At  dinner  were  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rowcliffe  and  Dr.  and 
Mrs.  Pollock.  Mr.  Rowcliffe  was  unwell  and  had  to 
leave  the  table.  There  was  some  fear  of  his  being  se- 


140     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

riously  ill,  as  he  had  been  in  such  poor  health;  but  he 
recovered  soon  and  the  dinner  was  not  interrupted. 

Wednesday,  September  15 

Took  sketch  book  up  the  river  to  do  a  pretty  scene;  as 
usual,  not  so  pretty  on  paper  as  the  scene  itself.  The 
others  tried  the  fishing,  which  proved  to  be  poor.  They 
always  give  curious  explanations  about  this  fishing  and 
lack  of  fish,  as  that  there  is  an  east  wind,  or  the  water 
is  too  clear,  or  the  weather  too  dry,  or  there  is  too  much 
rain,  or  the  water  is  too  brown.  The  subject  I  chose 
for  the  sketch  was  an  arched  stone  bridge  and  rapids 
underneath. 

After  lunch  we  went  out  sea  fishing  in  a  heavy  row- 
boat  and  had  fair  luck,  catching  one  cod  and  several 
rock  whiting. 

Dined  at  Dr.  Pollock's,  where  were  the  usual  quartet, 
with  a  Mrs.  Rowe  in  addition.  She  is  a  widow  and  one 
of  the  three  large  landowners  in  the  neighborhood, 
lively,  bright,  good-looking,  and  considered  a  great 
"catch."  The  good  ladies,  who,  like  most  of  their  kind, 
are  match-makers,  got  me  to  call  on  her  and  made 
several  occasions  to  bring  us  together. 

Thursday,  September  16 

After  lunch  drove  with  Dr.  Pollock  and  Tenterden 
several  miles  up  the  river  Lyn  and  fished,  but  the  river 
was  too  low  and  the  water  too  clear,  so  we  had  no  luck. 
We  then  drove  to  within  three  or  four  miles  from  home 
and  about  dusk  began  fishing  in  Long  Pool.  Long  Pool 
is  in  a  deep  ravine  between  high,  perpendicular  rocks 
w4th  a  small  fall  of  water  at  the  upper  end.  The  banks 
are  wooded  here  and  there  on  little  shelves  of  rock  with 
a  variety  of  trees.   At  all  times  it  is  very  picturesque. 


FISHING  AT  LYNMOUTH  141 

but  the  change  from  twihght  to  darkness  and  then  to 
moonHght,  with  the  moon  itself  at  one  moment  behind 
clouds,  at  the  next  dimmed  with  mist,  and  again  shin- 
ing out  clearly  on  the  opposite  bank,  glistening  to  the 
water's  edge  and  falling  through  the  trees  here  and 
there  upon  rocks  or  water,  was  something  surpassingly 
beautiful.  It  was  a  fairyland;  the  soft  shadows  and 
bright  spots  gave  easy  play  to  the  imagination  to  pic- 
ture all  sorts  of  depths  and  heights,  palaces  and  halls, 
while  the  falling  water,  with  its  babbling  sound,  put 
one  nearly  to  sleep,  until  there  w^ould  come  a  tug  at 
the  line  to  remind  one  of  reality  and  to  turn  the 
mind  from  soothing  dreams  of  the  imagination  to 
catching  real  fish,  from  castles  in  Spain  to  Long  Pool, 
Lynmouth. 

We  had  good  luck  for  the  state  of  the  water,  catching 
twenty-two  trout  and  three  eels.  We  stopped  fishing  a 
little  past  midnight  and  walked  home  by  the  banks  of 
the  stream.  The  moon  had  a  highly  colored  ring  about 
it  and  our  path  lay  mostly  in  the  woods,  sometimes 
high  above  and  again  on  a  level  with  the  stream  which 
flows  over  a  rocky  bed  with  several  waterfalls  and  fre- 
quent rapids.  The  whole  scene  was  very  different  from 
anything  I  had  imagined  as  existing  in  England.  It  is 
wild  and  not  unlike  some  unfrequented  parts  of  our 
WTiite  Mountains,  if  a  variety  of  oaks,  beeches,  birches, 
and  plane  trees  should  be  substituted  for  the  New 
Hampshire  firs.  The  ivy  grows  w41d  in  great  profusion 
and  fuchsias  and  blossoming  myrtles  thrive  out  of  doors 
all  the  year  round.  At  half -past  one  we  had  a  late  sup- 
per or  early  breakfast,  if  you  prefer  to  call  it  so,  which 
was  very  refreshing  and  was  brightened  up  with  Ten- 
terden's  cheery  talk  and  catching  laughter. 


142    HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

Friday,  September  17 

After  lunch  walked  up  the  river  while  others  fished  and 
had  a  long  talk  with  Mrs.  Julius  Pollock.  Afterwards 
went  in  bathing  in  the  sea  and  came  near  being  caught 
by  the  tide  under  the  cliffs.  The  tide  rose  to-day  some 
twenty- two  feet  ten  inches,  and  when  it  got  started,  it 
came  up  very  fast,  every  wave  being  in  advance  of  the 
last,  during  the  rush.  The  cliffs  were  so  steep  they  were 
impossible  to  climb  and  the  beaches  were  very  flat,  so 
that  a  few  feet  of  rise  caused  a  rapid  rush  of  the  waters 
over  long  distances,  and,  with  the  strong  currents  and 
rough  surface,  it  would  have  been  almost  impossible 
to  swim  round  the  point  to  the  mouth  of  the  Lyn  and 
I  came  near  meeting  the  fate  of  Mary  in  Charles 
Kingsley's  poem  "The  Sands  of  Dee." 

Fished  from  a  boat  in  the  harbor,  but  had  very  poor 
luck.  The  bad  luck  was,  of  course,  explained.  There  is 
a  reason  for  everything  that  goes  wrong  in  fishing,  only 
the  reason  is  never  known  until  after  the  fishing  is  over. 
The  reason  this  time  was  distant  rumbling  thunder. 
There  was  a  heavy  shower  during  the  night  with  loud 
claps  and  sheets  of  lightning  and  in  the  morning  the 
river  "came  down";  that  is,  the  water  had  come  from 
the  hills  and  the  river  rose.  That  is  generally  a  promise 
of  good  sport,  so  we  all,  ladies  included,  started  up  the 
river  before  lunch,  but  the  fishing  was  never  worse.  We 
could  not  even  get  a  bite.  The  ladies  went  back  for 
lunch  while  we  men  ate  the  "grub"  we  had  taken  with 
us,  stayed  until  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening,  and  went 
home  for  late  dinner. 

In  the  afternoon  the  luck  was  as  bad  as  it  had  been  in 
the  morning,  though  in  the  early  evening  Tenterden 
succeeded  in  landing  a  sea  trout,  a  salmon  peel  of  about 
one  pound  and  a  half,  a  few  eels  were  caught,  and  one 


POOR  FISHING  143 

or  two  smaller  trout.  The  reason  given  this  time  was 
that  the  fish  expected  more  rain,  though  exactly  why 
they  should  have  been  less  hungry  in  that  expectation 
or  why  they  had  any  power  or  cause  to  expect  anything, 
was  not  explained.  Another  reason  was  that  the  water 
was  not  fine  enough.  I  thought  that  was  a  very  clever 
excuse,  for  no  one  really  knows  exactly  what  "fine 
enough"  is,  so  it  has  the  advantage  of  being  indefinite. 
Some  said  the  color  was  too  brown  or  too  yellow  or  not 
brown  or  not  yellow  enough,  but  strange  to  say,  in  this 
case  as  in  the  others,  they  did  not  find  out  that  the 
water  was  the  wrong  color  or  the  fish  were  expecting 
anything  till  after  we  had  been  several  hours  without 
catching  a  thing. 

After  dinner  Tenterden  and  I  went  over  to  Dr.  Pol- 
lock's and  they  made  me  do  several  sleight-of-hand 
tricks  with  cards  and  coins.  Lady  Tenterden  has  been 
unwell  since  the  first  two  days  of  my  visit.  Tenterden 
told  me  he  prized  very  highly  my  father's  notes  to 
Wheaton's  International  Law  and  said  he  and  others  use 
them  all  the  time  at  the  Foreign  OSice  as  the  best 
authority  and  expressed  with  remarkable  clearness  and 
precision. 

Sunday,  September  19 

Went  to  church  in  a  very  pretty  chapel  with  a  good 
clergyman,  a  tourist,  and  no  choir,  but  fair  congrega- 
tional singing.  In  the  afternoon  went  to  Lee  Abbey 
where  I  met  a  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wilde.  Wilde  is  a  barrister, 
and  the  son  of  Lord  Truro.  Mr.  Wilde  is  father  of 
Mrs.  Bailey. 

On  the  way  over  I  discovered  that  Mrs.  Julius  Pol- 
lock was  an  authoress.  She  wrote  a  book  called  "Lissa- 
del"  which  was  published  this  spring  and  had  been 


144    HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

favorably  criticized.  The  scene  of  the  novel  is  laid  in  the 
vicinity  of  Lynmouth.  We  took  a  walk  to  Leemouth 
where  there  is  a  sand  beach,  all  the  other  beaches  being 
more  or  less  stony.  As  we  were  walking  along  the  shore 
they  pointed  out  an  overhanging  cliff.  It  seemed  almost 
directly  over  the  water  and  yet  they  told  me  that  from 
above,  it  was  almost  impossible  to  throw  a  stone  into 
the  sea. 

I  knew  they  would  ask  me  to  try  and  at  the  top  of  the 
cliff  there  would  be  only  jagged  stones,  so  I  slyly  put 
some  smooth,  large,  flat  ones  into  my  pocket.  When  at 
last  we  wound  our  way  up  to  the  top,  surely  enough  they 
challenged  me  to  try,  and  making  use  of  the  best  one  of 
the  stones  from  my  collection,  I  threw  it  off  toward  the 
water  and  succeeded  in  reaching  it,  where  we  saw  it 
splash,  much  to  their  astonishment.  The  feat,  they  told 
me,  had  been  done  only  one  or  two  times  before  and  that 
I  beat  the  former  throws  by  a  fair  distance.  I  suppose 
the  others  did  not  have  the  forethought  to  supply  them- 
selves, like  David  when  going  against  Goliath,  with 
"smooth  stones  from  the  brook,"  or,  in  this  case,  from 
the  beach. 

It  was  a  beautiful  sunset  over  the  water.  We  walked 
home  by  the  North  Walk.  The  great  height  at  or  near 
the  tops  of  the  cliffs  gives  a  very  extended  horizon  which 
seems  so  high  as  to  be  almost  a  hill  of  water  and  adds 
much  to  the  charm  of  the  sunset.  The  ships  on  the  large 
waves  below  seem  like  toy  vessels  on  the  ripples  of  a 
duck  pond. 

Mrs.  Pollock  asked  if  she  might  make  use  of  me  as  her 
hero  in  the  next  novel.  In  my  conceit  I  said  that  I  would 
hardly  do  for  a  hero  and  got  a  deserved  answer:  "Oh, 
it  does  n't  do  to  have  a  perfect  hero  or  he  would  be 
laughed  at  by  the  critics." 


TO  ILFRACOMBE  BY  STEAMER  145 

A  moonlight  walk  up  the  Watersmeet  Road.  Sang 
songs. 

Monday,  September  20 

Mk.  and  Mrs.  Rowcliffe  left  in  the  morning  and  I  waited 
to  see  them  off.  They  asked  me  to  be  sure  and  come  and 
see  them  when  in  London.  It  threatened  rain  in  the 
afternoon  and  just  before  I  left  it  began  to  pour  in 
torrents.  On  bidding  Tenterden  good-bye  he  gave  me 
letters  of  introduction,  which  he  had  prepared,  to  the 
British  ambassadors  in  the  various  capitals  which  I  was 
to  visit:  Paris,  Rome,  Athens,  Cairo,  and  Constan- 
tinople. He  told  me  that  these  were  more  than  "soup 
tickets." 

Went  to  Ilfracombe  by  steamer.  There  is  no  wharf, 
so  passengers  and  luggage  have  to  be  rowed  out  by  boat. 
Lord  and  Lady  Tenterden  and  children  and  Dr.  and 
Mrs.  Pollock  came  down  to  the  beach  to  see  me  off. 
Rather  a  wet  farewell.  This  is  the  first  time  I  have  seen 
Lady  Tenterden  since  she  was  ill.  The  steamer  passed 
as  close  to  the  cliffs  as  possible  so  as  to  avoid  a  strong 
head  tide  and  we  caught  occasional  views  which  were 
grand,  though  soon  shut  off  by  rain  and  mist.  All  the 
friends  at  Lynmouth  had  been  so  kind  to  me  that  I  was 
sorry  indeed  to  part  from  them.  I  hope  to  meet  them 
all  again  next  spring  when  I  return  to  England. 


CHAPTER  X 

HURSLEY  PARK:  SIR  WILLIAM  HEATHCOTE'S  AND 
GENERAL  REVIEW 

Tuesday,  September  21 

The  weather  cleared  off  and  I  finished  "Lissadel."  The 
trains  were  so  scheduled  that  it  was  impossible  to  stop 
over  at  Salisbury  and  yet  be  able  to  call  at  Sir  William 
Heathcote's  at  Hursley  Park  near  Winchester.  I  had 
got  ticket  and  had  my  luggage  marked  for  Winchester, 
but  the  guard  of  the  train  told  me  that  Chandler's  Ford 
station  was  nearer  Hursley  than  Winchester,  and  on  his 
advice  I  had  my  trunks  taken  from  the  van,  got  out  of 
the  railway  carriage  in  a  fine  rain,  and  told  the  porter  to 
call  me  a  cab.  He  said  there  were  none  about.  I  asked 
him  where  was  the  nearest  place  I  could  find  one.  He 
said,  "The  nearest  place  is  Hursley."  "How  far  is 
Hursley.^ "  I  asked.  "Three  miles,"  was  the  reply.  Then 
I  looked  down  the  track  at  my  train  and  saw  it  was 
disappearing  rapidly  "beyond  recall."  I  asked  him  if 
there  was  any  other  kind  of  trap  to  be  got  nearer,  a  farm 
wagon  or  anything  of  the  sort,  and  he  said  "No."  I 
then  had  my  trunk  sent  by  parcels  express  to  Winchester 
and  started  on  foot  for  Hursley. 

I  arrived  in  the  park  with  wet  and  muddy  shoes,  a 
cloth  cap,  and  rough  clothes,  inquiring  my  way  as  I 
went.  I  walked  up  the  avenue  and  by  mistake  took  the 
turn  to  the  stables.  I  then  asked  one  of  the  coachmen 
which  was  the  way  to  the  house  and  he  pointed  to  me  a 
path  which  I  innocently  took,  but  found  it  led  to  the 
back  or  the  kitchen  door  only,  so  I  turned  and  had  to 
pass  the  stable  again,  much  to  the  amusement  of  the 


ARRIVAL  AT  HURSLEY  PARK  147 

coachman.  To  add  to  my  discomfort  I  found  Lady 
Heathcote  and  somebody  else  driving  away  in  a  carriage 
from  the  front  door  just  as  I  reached  it.  I  was  afraid  that 
that  somebody  was  Sir  WiUiam,  but  the  Hveried  foot- 
man at  the  door  told  me  that  Sir  William  was  in  the 
house. 

I  thought  altogether  I  had  made  a  pretty  bad  en- 
trance, and  the  majestic  menial  at  the  front  door  did  not 
offer  to  take  my  coat  or  hat  or  ask  me  into  the  front  hall, 
but  simply  told  me  to  wait  in  the  vestibule.  He  looked 
at  the  letter  of  introduction  and  my  card,  leisurely 
walked  off,  and  apparently  took  his  time  about  it,  for 
he  did  not  appear  for  many  minutes  —  it  seemed  to  me 
at  least  half  an  hour  —  and  then,  when  he  came  again 
in  view,  asked  me  to  walk  up.  I  found  Sir  William  in  his 
library;  he  was  expecting  to  see  me,  for  I  had  sent  him 
word  by  mail  that  I  should  call.  He  w^as  most  courteous 
and  insisted  upon  my  staying  overnight,  sent  for  my 
trunk  at  the  station,  and  had  a  message  telegraphed  to 
my  London  lodgings,  saying  I  would  not  arrive  till 
Wednesday.  After  a  pleasant  chat  with  Sir  William, 
w^ho  was  affability  itself,  I  read  and  wrote  till  five  o'clock 
when  I  was  shown  into  the  drawing-room  where  they 
were  having  afternoon  tea.  There  I  met  Lady  Heath- 
cote, several  children  and  grandchildren,  and  Arch- 
deacon Mildmay  of  Chelmsford,  his  wife  and  children. 
At  dinner  I  took  in  a  Mrs.  Heathcote  and  sat  on  Lady 
Heathcote's  right.  Lady  Heathcote  still  preserves  her 
charm,  both  of  person  and  mind,  which  my  father 
described.^  I  talked  with  the  Archdeacon  after  dinner 
for  an  hour  or  so  on  Church  and  State,  education  in 
America,  college  life  and  influence. 

*  R.  II.  Dana.  A  Biographrj.  By  C.  F.  Adams  (Houghton,  Miflflin 
and  Company,  1891),  vol.  li,  pp.  89-96,  106. 


148     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

The  servant  in  charge  of  my  room  made  a  mess  of  my 
leather  portmanteau,  which  he  had  beheved,  I  think,  to 
be  some  strange  outlandish  American  invention.  He 
took  the  canvas  cover  all  off  and  indeed  every  buckle  and 
strap  he  could  see.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  was  an  English 
trunk  from  Last's  in  London,  and  when  he  learned  that, 
he  seemed  to  gather  his  wits  together  and  managed  it  all 
right  afterwards. 

The  house  is  large  and  spacious.  There  is  a  grand 
stairway  and  broad  halls  and  long  rooms  with  fine,  well- 
painted  family  portraits  dating  back  one  hundred  and 
fifty  years  when  the  baronetcy  was  created.  The  present 
Sir  William  is  fifth  in  line,  and  there  are  some  old  mas- 
ters, rare  engravings,  and  good  statuary  about  and  an  air 
of  substantial  affluence  moulded  by  good  taste  and  cul- 
ture. 

Sir  William,  who  is  now  seventy-four  years  of  age, 
took  highest  honors  at  Oxford  and  a  doctorate  of  civil 
law,  was  in  Parliament  for  many  years  representing 
Oxford  University  for  part  of  the  time,  and  has  been  a 
leader  in  philanthropies  and  good  works  both  in  Win- 
chester in  particular  and  in  the  kingdom  in  general. 
Though  holding  no  cabinet  position,  his  many  years  in 
Parliament,  his  high  character  and  good  judgment,  give 
him  unusual  influence  in  the  affairs  of  Great  Britain. 

Wednesday,  September  22 

Breakfasted  with  all  the  family  and  then  took  a  walk 
with  the  Reverend  Mr.  Heathcote,  a  younger  son  of  Sir 
William.  He  was  very  cordial,  repeatedly  urging  me  to 
visit  him  in  his  rectory  if  I  should  be  in  that  part  of  the 
country.  He  showed  me  the  Hursley  church  and  rec- 
tory where  Keble  preached,  lived,  wrote,  and  died,  and 
I  saw  Keble's  tomb  and  the  house  where  lived  Charlotte 


WINCHESTER  HOSPITAL  149 

Yonge,  the  author  of  "The  Heir  of  Redclyffe."  How  I 
loved  that  book  and  how  I  wept  as  a  schoolboy  over  the 
death  of  dear  Guy!  Mr.  Heathcote  spoke  to  me  of 
primogeniture.  He  said  that  though  he  was  a  younger 
son,  he  would  far  rather  his  elder  brother  should  have 
the  estate  and  keep  it  up,  retaining  all  the  family  por- 
traits and  heirlooms  so  that  the  estate  and  the  family 
dignity  might  be  maintained,  than  to  have  everything 
divided  equally  and  each  child  get  only  a  small  share. 
My  father  in  1856  spoke  of  the  old  estate  as  sure  to  be 
in  the  family  for  generations  to  come. 

(Curiously  enough,  soon  after  this,  Hursley  passed 
out  of  the  Heathcote  family.  The  elder  son  was  a  Catho- 
lic and  a  Jesuit  and,  if  I  am  correctly  informed,  broke 
up  the  entail  and  gave  the  bulk  of  the  proceeds  to  his 
Church.  I  thought  he  and  the  incidents  in  connection 
with  Hursley  might  have  furnished  the  character  and 
plot  for  "Helbeck  of  Bannisdale,"  but  Mrs.  Humphry 
Ward,  in  her  "Writer's  Recollections"  (1918),  tells  how 
the  suggestion  for  that  book  came  from  another  family 
and  other  scenes.) 

Archdeacon  Mildmay  also  asked  me  to  visit  him  and 
told  me  to  write  him  and  let  him  know  when  I  came  back 
to  London.  How  hospitable,  genial,  and  kindly  these 
people  are,  just  as  my  father  found  them  to  be  when  he 
visited  Sir  William  in  1856! 

Sir  William  drove  me  to  Winchester  in  time  to  escort 
me  over  the  hospital  personally  and  to  let  me  see  the 
Cathedral  before  the  train  left  for  London.  He  explained 
the  system  of  nurses,  probationers  —  that  is,  nurses  on 
trial  —  their  training  and  education,  and  also  a  system 
of  outdoor  or  visiting  nurses,  which  he  said  worked 
admirably  and  seemed  worthy  of  adoption  in  America. 
One  thing  struck  me  particularly  in  the  hospital.    In 


150    HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES  ; 

many  such  places  the  intimacy  with  death  and  the 
frequent  post  mortems  make  the  managers  careless  and 
hard,  but  here  Sir  William  had  a  special  place  set  apart 
and  at  the  head  of  the  room  erected  a  marble  slab  with 
this  text,  "When  this  corruptible  shall  have  put  on 
incorruption,"  and  does  all  he  can  to  secure  reverential 
treatment  in  autopsies.  Sir  William  showed  me  over 
every  part  of  the  hospital,  pointing  out  any  improve- 
ments over  other  hospitals,  and  then  sent  me  off  to  the 
Cathedral  in  his  coach  while  he  stayed  for  a  meeting  of 
the  trustees.  I  spent  an  hour  in  the  Cathedral,  lunched, 
and  left  for  London,  having  said  good-bye  to  Sir  William 
at  the  hospital  door. 

One  hears  occasionally  of  dull  English  dinners,  but  it 
has  been  my  good  fortune  not  to  have  been  present  at  a 
single  one.  The  conversation  has  always  been  interest- 
ing and  sometimes  brilliant.  I  noticed,  too,  that  there 
was  habitual  courtesy  to  and  consideration  for  the 
domestics:  "Please  hand  me  this,"  or,  "Be  so  good  as  to 
get  my  overcoat,"  etc. 

I  believe  I  have  never  given  a  menu  of  the  dinners. 
They  have  been  bountiful,  with  many  courses,  generally 
two  of  meat,  one  perhaps  being  of  game,  and  usually 
there  have  been  from  four  to  six  kinds  of  wine;  sherry, 
champagne,  claret,  and  port  appearing  the  most  fre- 
quently. 

At  the  five  o'clock  afternoon  teas  the  prevailing 
fashion  is  to  take  the  tea  rather  strong,  with  milk  or 
cream  and  no  sugar.  It  is  always  some  kind  of  black 
tea.  Thin  slices  of  bread  evenly  and  slightly  buttered, 
and  usually  folded  with  buttered  sides  together,  are 
served  and  sometimes  some  cake.  The  full  dress  of  the 
ladies  at  dinner  is  rather  open,  rather  low  and  broad  in 
front,  sometimes  though  not  always  higher  in  the  back. 


ENGLISH  AND  AJVIERICAN  HOSPITALITY        151 

and  of  handsome  light  material,  and  with  long  trains. 
In  the  daytime  the  dress  is  high. 

I  have  been  asked  whether  a  great  deal  of  this  cor- 
diality of  the  English  is  not  superficial.  I  have  sometimes 
met  Englishmen  traveling  where  I  thought  the  good 
wines  and  well-cooked  dinners  had  aroused  a  temporary 
expression  of  hospitality  which  was  more  gastronomic 
than  heartfelt,  but  even  among  these  chance  travelers 
I  have  made  firm  and  enduring  friendships;  but  with  all 
those  English  men  and  women  with  whom  my  lot  has 
been  cast  for  nearly  three  months,  the  acts  of  kindness 
have  spoken  even  louder  than  words.  As  I  shall  show 
later,  on  my  return  to  England  the  following  spring 
they  by  no  means  forgot  me,  and  often  by  letter  or  by 
kindness  to  friends  I  have  sent  to  them,  and  by  hospital- 
ity later  they  have  shown  a  warm-hearted  friendship 
that  is  by  no  means  superficial. 

The  English  method  of  entertaining  guests  is  worthy 
of  consideration.  Our  hospitality  at  home  has  been  too 
much  of  a  burden  on  both  host  and  guest.  A  three- 
days'  visit  is  a  burden;  a  week's  is  torture.  It  is  con- 
sidered necessary  to  devote  practically  all  the  host's 
time  to  the  guest;  all  other  matters  are  in  abeyance, 
conversation  must  be  kept  up,  even  the  short  time  given 
to  housekeeping  has  to  be  apologized  for,  and  it  is  hard 
for  either  guest  or  host  to  find  time  for  rest  or  writing 
necessary  letters.  Excuses  have  to  be  invented  and 
white  lies  told.  This  is  continued  from  hour  to  hour  so 
that  before  three  days  are  over  every  one  is  fatigued  and 
talked  out,  no  matter  how  agreeable  are  either  the  visi- 
tors or  the  host  and  his  family. 

The  English,  on  the  other  hand,  have  carried  hos- 
pitality to  a  fine  art.  Life  goes  on  pretty  much  as  usual. 
At  breakfast  the  host  says  such  and  such  things  are 


152    HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

going  on  or  suggests  certain  plans  for  the  visitors.  What 
would  the  guests  like  to  do?  Perhaps  the  guests  plan 
something  between  themselves  and  the  host  and  hostess 
are  free  to  join  or  not  as  they  please.  Then  at  lunch  and 
afternoon  tea  there  is  a  gathering  of  those  who  happen 
to  be  about  and  perhaps  more  plans  are  talked  over.  It 
is  only  at  dinner  and  in  the  evening  that  all  are  brought 
together  and  conversation  is  kept  up.  This  makes 
hospitality  easy  and  therefore  frequent. 
I  left  England  September  25th  for  Paris. 


CHAPTER  XI 
PARIS  SALONS,  AND  ENGLISH  EMBASSY 

Paris,  September  28 

Delivered  letters  all  the  forenoon  till  lunch;  among 
others  was  one  to  the  Honorable  Elihu  Benjamin  Wash- 
burne,  United  States  Minister  to  France.  He  gained  a 
reputation  for  courage  and  diplomacy  in  the  Franco- 
Prussian  War  that  will  always  be  a  credit  to  our  coun- 
try. He  was  the  only  foreign  minister  to  stay  at  his  post 
during  the  Siege  of  Paris  and  the  Commune  and  gave 
shelter  and  protection  to  nationals  of  other  countries  as 
well  as  to  citizens  of  the  United  States.  He  also  pro- 
tected those  unfortunate  Germans  who  were  unable  to 
leave  Paris  during  the  war  and  altogether  won  the  ad- 
miration of  all. 

He  was  "at  home"  and  insisted  upon  seeing  me  at 
once,  and  then  later  took  me  with  him  in  a  carriage  on 
his  way  to  some  public  business.  He  has  a  rough  ex- 
terior and  rather  nasal  voice,  is  tall  and  commanding 
in  appearance,  has  a  way  of  going  straight  to  his  object, 
and  his  talk  is  sensible  and  sincere.  With  all  his  stay  in 
France  he  has  not  yet  learned  to  speak  French  well.  He 
called  out  to  the  coachman,  "  Cocher,  allez  au  coin  de  la 
rue,"  pronouncing  "coin"  like  the  English  "coin," 
"de"  with  a  flat  "e,"  and  "rue"  in  two  syllables  like 
"rou-hey." 

He  could  not  have  been  more  kind  to  me  than  he  was 
and  spoke  most  pleasantly  of  my  father,  his  character, 
ability,  and  writings.  Washburne  had  been  called  the 
"father"  of  the  House  of  Representatives  in  Congress, 
being,  I  believe,  longer  in  that  body  than  any  other 


154     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

member  of  his  day.  He  was  appointed  by  General  Grant 
first  as  Secretary  of  State  for  the  United  States  and  soon 
after  as  Minister  to  France.  (He  wrote  "Recollections  of 
a  Minister  to  France  "  and  died  in  1887.)  To  come  back 
to  his  cabman,  that  man  comprehended  the  directions 
that  Washburne  had  given  him,  badly  pronounced  as 
they  were.  The  French  are  wonderful  at  understanding. 

Thursday,  September  30 

Among  the  other  letters  of  introduction  I  had  for  Paris 
was  one  to  Monsieur  Xavier  Marmier  given  me  by  Pro- 
fessor Henry  W.  Longfellow  of  Cambridge.  In  reply  to 
an  invitation  from  Marmier  I  went  to  his  apartment  at 
half -past  eleven.  I  found  him  taking  his  morning  coffee. 
He  does  not  speak  English  well,  so  my  small  store  of 
French  had  sometimes  to  be  called  into  requisition. 
No  one  could  be  more  charming  and  gracious  than  Mon- 
sieur Marmier.  He  showed  me  numerous  American 
books  on  his  shelves  and  complimented  American  litera- 
ture. He  has  a  great  love  as  well  as  admiration  for  Long- 
fellow. He  asked  me  if  Miss  Edith  were  married  and  was 
surprised  to  hear  that  she  was  not,  and  then  said,  "One 
so  pretty  and  so  good,"  with  his  hand  on  his  heart,  all 
which  set  my  pulses  beating  with  pleasure,  for  my  wish 
at  the  Wishing  Tree  at  Pembroke  Lodge  was  about  that 
same  young  lady. 

*  His  rooms  are  plain  and  furniture  a  bit  shabby,  but 
the  books  which  line  all  the  walls  make  up  for  everything 
else  and  give  an  air  of  coziness  and  intellectuality.  He 
is  one  of  the  forty  Immortals,  an  Academician  or  mem- 
ber of  the  Institute  of  France.  He  has  written  many 
books  of  travel.  He  lives  with  his  little  old  housekeeper 
and  his  dog,  who  made  friends  with  me,  contrary  to  the 
usual  custom  of  this  little  animal  as  Monsieur  Marmier 


TWO  FRENXH  ACADEMICL\NS  155 

told  me.  His  rooms  are  on  the  third  floor  according  to 
French  counting.  The  wooden  part  of  the  furniture  is 
old  and  handsome  and  floors  are  all  bare  excepting  the 
library,  which  is  the  only  one  carpeted.  He  was  sur- 
prised that  I,  being  an  American,  did  not  smoke. 

He  dressed  or  rather  finished  dressing  while  I  was  in 
the  room.  It  was  very  good  of  him  to  speak  so  kindly  of 
America,  for  I  had  been  told  that  in  his  journeys  in  the 
West  he  was  much  disconcerted  by  the  roughness  of 
some  American  travelers,  especially  on  one  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi flatboats.  There  they  crushed  his  tall  hat  over 
his  eyes  and  made  fun  of  his  broken  English,  though,  to 
be  sure,  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  country  he  was  well 
received  and  properly  appreciated.  He  took  me  to  see 
Monsieur  Mohl,  another  member  of  the  Institute  and  a 
friend  of  Professor  Longfellow,  to  whom  also  he  had 
given  me  a  letter. 

Madame  ]Mohl  has  the  reputation  of  being  one  of  the 
brightest  and  wittiest  ladies  in  France  and  is  the  last  one 
to  keep  up  the  old-fashioned  "salon."  She  was  not  up, 
but  Monsieur  Mohl  was;  dressed,  however,  in  a  long, 
loose  gown  and  slippers,  although  it  was  quarter  after 
one.  His  dressing-gown  was  of  a  brown  woolen  stuff  and 
he  wore  no  collar.  Indeed,  I  suspected  from  the  looks  of 
the  arrangement  that  he  only  had  his  nightshirt  under 
the  dressing-gown.  He  was  reading  a  ponderous,  un- 
bound book  which  was  lying  on  the  top  of  a  pile,  about  a 
foot  or  two  high,  of  old  half-cut  pamphlets  and  leaflets. 
They  appeared  more  and  more  dusty  as  my  eye  de- 
scended to  the  bottom  of  the  pile.  His  hot-water  jug  was 
still  on  the  fireplace.  His  letters  were  in  hopeless  con- 
fusion on  a  table  near  by.  I  judged  the  correspondence 
of  the  whole  year  must  have  been  there,  and  how  it  was 
possible  for  him  to  find  anything  in  particular  or  tell  in 


156     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

general  what  notes  were  answered  or  what  unanswered, 
or  what  bills  paid  or  what  unpaid,  I  could  not  make  out. 

He  speaks  English  pretty  well,  for  his  wife  was  Eng- 
lish by  birth,  though  she  has  been  so  long  in  Erance 
that  she  speaks  Erench  better  than  English,  which  she 
has  partially  forgotten.  The  celebrated  Academicians 
soon  got  deep  into  literary  conversation,  of  which  I 
could  get  no  connected  idea.  At  one  time  they  became 
very  much  disgusted  with  some  one's  presumption  and 
made  up  faces  to  correspond  to  the  disgust  they  felt. 
Monsieur  Mohl  invited  me  to  come  to-morrow  evening 
in  time  for  tea,  when  Madame  Mohl  and  some  friends 
would  be  present  and  Monsieur  Marmier  offered  to 
send  me  a  ticket  to  the  Theatre  Erangais,  and  two  to  the 
opening  lectures  of  the  Institute.  Both  sets  of  tickets, 
he  informed  me,  he  gets  free  of  charge.  Monsieur  Mar- 
mier walked  back  with  me  as  far  as  the  river.  Both  he 
and  Monsieur  Mohl  live  on  the  Latin  Quarter  side, 
Monsieur  Mohl  at  120  rue  du  Bac  and  Marmier  in  the 
rue  St.  Thomas  d'Aquin,  No.  11. 

Marmier,  although  an  old  man  deeply  interested  in 
literature  and  a  distinguished  member  of  the  Institute, 
found  great  youthful  interest  in  the  shop  windows  be- 
fore which  he  would  stop  in  admiration.  He  told  me  to 
be  sure  to  look  at  the  shop  windows  in  the  Palais  Royal 
for  amusement.  Several  times  as  we  were  walking  he 
would  stop  in  the  street  and  take  my  arm  to  explain 
something  more  fully,  talking  all  the  time.  He  put  his 
hand  over  his  heart  and  said,  "Professor  Longfellow  is 
very  close  here." 

Friday,  October  1 

In  the  evening,  after  dining  at  a  nice,  clean  restaurant 

where  we  had  a  good  selection  of  soups,  entrees,  meats, 


MADAME  MOHL'S  SALONS  157 

vegetables,  and  fruit,  wine  included,  for  two  francs  (forty 
cents),  went  with  Monsieur  Marmier  to  Madame  Mohl's 
for  the  evening  tea.  French  was  spoken  almost  wholly. 

Madame  Mohl  said  she  was  very  sorry  that  it  was  so 
much  out  of  season.  She  regretted  not  to  have  more 
society  to  offer  me.  However,  it  gave  me  an  idea  of  one 
of  her  salons.  She  boiled  her  water  for  the  tea  in  a  kettle 
on  the  wood  ashes  on  the  hearth.  She  has  a  small, 
quaint  figure,  gray  hair  very  carelessly  put  up,  and 
loose-fitting  gown,  and  all  the  time  she  is  apparently 
much  absorbed  in  keeping  up  the  fire,  boiling  the  water 
and  making  the  tea,  and  yet  I  see  she  is  listening,  for 
she  breaks  into  the  conversation  with  a  few  words  now 
and  then,  to  which  all  listen,  often  causing  a  bright 
laugh  or  stimulating  a  quick  answer.  There  were  several 
literary  people  and  bright  talkers,  I  was  told,  but  no  one 
of  them  of  very  great  distinction  this  evening. 

Madame  Mohl's  salons  are  famous  and  distinguished 
foreigners  passing  through  Paris  are  glad  to  be  asked 
there  to  hear  this  bright  little  lady  —  more  brilliant  than 
her  distinguished  husband  —  the  other  intellectual 
talk,  "the  flashing  play  of  French"  wit,  and  to  meet 
litterateurs  gathered  in  these  quaint,  crowded,  and  un- 
kempt rooms.  It  all  seems  a  triumph  of  mind  over  mat- 
ter, about  which  latter  there  is  rather  too  much  of 
"never  mind."  (Her  letters  have  been  published  and 
widely  read.) 

Saturday,  October  2 

Another  morning  in  the  Louvre  Galleries.  Dined  with 
Mr.  F.  Ottiwell  Adams,  the  English  charge  d'affaires  at 
Paris.  Lord  Lyons,  the  English  Minister,  to  whom  Lord 
Tenterden  gave  me  a  letter,  was  away  and  Adams  en- 
tertained in  his  place.  At  the  dinner  I  met  Mrs.  Abbott, 


158     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

Lord  Tenterden's  mother  and  daughter  of  the  late  Lord 
George  Stuart.  She  had  a  very  beautiful  young  lady 
under  her  charge.  There  were  also  a  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hugh 
Wyndham  (later  he  was  knighted  as  Sir  Hugh  Wynd- 
ham,  was  British  Minister  to  Servia,  Rio  de  Janeiro,  and 
Bucharest,  and  charge  d'affaires  at  St.  Petersburg).  He 
had  just  received  a  promotion  to  the  position  of  Secre- 
tary of  Legation  at  Athens.  Beside  these  were  a  number 
of  others  to  whom  I  was  not  introduced.  I  took  in  Mrs. 
Wyndham. 

Mr.  Wyndham  explained  the  methods  of  examination 
for  the  British  diplomatic  positions.  These  are  not  open 
to  all,  but  only  to  persons  who  are  nominated;  that  is,  it 
is  a  limited  competition.  He  said  also  that  they  would 
have  to  pass  subsequent  examinations  to  show  that  they 
were  keeping  up  with  their  work.  For  example,  he  would 
soon  have  to  pass  an  examination  in  modern  Greek, 
after  being  a  certain  number  of  months  at  Athens. 

Monday,  October  4 

Made  calls  in  the  afternoon.  Found  Madame  Mohl  at 
home.  She  was  cutting  out  a  dress  for  herself  and  that 
led  to  talking  about  American  young  ladies.  It  relieved 
her  mind  for  me  to  tell  her  that  several  of  the  young 
ladies  I  personally  knew  at  home  could  sew  and  cut  out 
dresses  and  trim  hats  and  that  a  few  of  them  did  a  good 
deal  of  this  for  themselves,  especially  those  of  moderate 
means  who  were  still  in  society,  daughters  of  Harvard 
professors  and  the  like.  It  is  not  an  uncommon  impres- 
sion among  foreigners  —  an  impression  which  Madame 
Mohl  shared  —  that  all  well-to-do  American  women  did 
nothing  but  sit  with  hands  folded,  neither  taking  exer- 
cise nor  doing  anything  useful.  Madame  Mohl  kept  on 
with  her  work,  carrying  on  the  conversation  all  the  while 


THE  ACTING  AT  THE  THJlATRE  FRANgAIS     159 

in  her  bright,  quick,  natural  way.  Natural  is  just  the 
right  word,  for  she  says  what  comes  into  her  mind, 
setting  it  off  with  droll  figures  of  speech  and  odd  com- 
ments. She  stopped  her  work  just  long  enough  to  give 
me  a  good  cup  of  tea  made  from  the  hot  water  boiling  on 
the  wood  fire. 

Tuesday,  October  5 

To  the  Theatre  Frangais  in  the  evening  and  saw 
"Demi-Monde,"  by  Dumas  Fils.  Croisette  took  the 
part  of  la  Baronne  and  acted  it  supremely  well.  On  the 
whole  I  think  the  most  perfect  thing  I  have  seen  since  I 
left  America,  the  one  that  had  the  least  flaws  and  gave 
the  least  disappointment  —  apart  from  personal  friends 
—  was  the  acting  at  the  Frangais.  It  came  up  to  my 
ideal.  Every  character  was  well  done.  Even  servants' 
parts  were  taken  by  finished  actors,  one  of  the  best  in 
the  world  taking  one  in  which  there  was  very  little  to 
say,  but  in  which  there  was  a  chance  to  show  suppressed 
emotion.  Nothing  was  overdone,  while,  when  the  part 
called  for  it,  there  was  fire  and  spirit  enough.  There 
were  no  useless  motions,  no  comic  attitudes  just  to 
produce  an  irrelevant  laugh,  and  no  unbefitting  dress. 
Every  actor  was  attired  simply  and  looked  and  moved 
like  the  character  represented,  just  as  you  would  have 
seen  such  a  person  if  you  had  met  him  or  her  in  a  parlor 
or  walking  the  street  in  real  life.  In  fact,  all  the  success 
was  made  to  depend  upon  good  acting  alone,  for  there 
was  not  even  an  orchestra,  and  yet  the  theatre  was 
filled  and  the  audience  enthusiastic. 

Received  a  present  from  Monsieur  Marmier  of  his 
book  "Les  Fiances  du  Spitzberg,"  with  his  name  in  it 
and  these  quaint  words,  "To  Mr.  Richard  Dana  friendly 
offered  by  the  author." 


160     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

Wednesday,  October  6 

To  the  grand  opera  in  the  evening  at  the  invitation  of 
INIrs.  Abbott,  who  had  Madame  d'Erlanger's  box,  which 
is  one  of  the  best  in  the  house.  We  saw  in  one  of  the 
proscenium  boxes  the  old  Queen  of  Spain,  stout  and 
dark,  and  three  of  her  offspring.  Our  box  was  large  and 
roomy,  number  25-27.  Some  Englishmen  in  the  box 
thought  it  necessary  to  put  on  the  blase,  and  not  only 
went  to  sleep  in  the  back  of  the  box  during  some  very 
interesting  portions,  but  what  was  worse,  talked  and 
laughed  quite  loud  during  others.  The  opera  was  "The 
Huguenots,"  and  the  general  effect  was  very  grand, 
although  there  were  no  great  soloists. 
'  Mrs.  Abbott  is  bright,  cheery,  and  humorous.  I  now 
see  where  her  son  got  his  cleverness. 

After  the  opera  was  over  the  English  gentlemen 
seemed  very  slow  about  getting  the  carriages,  so  I 
undertook,  with  my  limited  knowledge  of  French,  to 
find  on  which  side  of  the  building  the  carriages  were, 
how  to  get  there,  then  to  find  the  right  ones,  and  put  the 
ladies  of  the  party  in  them. 

Friday,  October  8 

In  the  evening  I  dined  again  with  Mr.  Adams,  who  is 
now  full  British  Ambassador  to  France,  at  the  Embassy, 
and  there  met  a  large  company,  mostly  French.  It  was 
truly  an  enjoyable  occasion.  The  conversation  was 
interesting  and  largely  in  the  French  language.  Mr. 
Adams  said  that  the  Japanese  were  inferior  to  the 
Chinese  in  power  of  organization  especially.  He  said 
that  in  Japan  —  and  he  was  in  the  embassy  there  for 
several  years  —  his  head  servants  were  always  Chinese. 
He  and  others  who  had  been  long  in  Japan  agreed  that 
the  Japanese  civilization  was  only  external,  a  mere 


AN  ENGLISH  OPINION  OF  THE  JAPANESE       161 

veneer.  Great  proclamations  had  been  made  and  noth- 
ing but  change  in  dress  and  a  few  other  externals  were 
ever  carried  out. 

He  said  that  it  was  a  great  mistake  to  have  them 
so  cried  up  in  the  newspapers  all  over  the  world.  They 
had  not  even  the  quickness  of  the  Chinese.  They 
could  only  do  what  they  were  told  and  shown  how 
to  do. 

(This  was  a  very  interesting  opinion  considering 
what  the  Japanese  have  done  in  the  forty-five  years 
following.  About  the  time  Adams  was  leaving  Japan, 
its  Government  was  laying  the  foundation  for  solid  im- 
provement. It  sent  its  brightest  young  men  to  study  in 
the  great  universities  of  the  West,  specializing  in  the 
various  subjects  for  which  they  showed  adaptability, 
and  with  this  foundation  of  education  they  then  in- 
vestigated every  industry  and  profession  on  its  practical 
side,  each  one  pursuing  his  specialty  in  various  countries, 
made  reports  to  their  Government  and  were  put  in 
charge  of  the  needed  reforms.) 

A  period  of  great  material  prosperity  all  said  was  in 
store  for  America.  It  was  generally  acknowledged  that 
it  would  be  impossible  to  guarantee  European  peace  for 
a  longer  time  than  till  next  April  (1876).  The  French- 
men scoffed  at  the  idea  of  an  empire  in  France  before 
ten  years  at  least.  They  agreed  that  the  political  and 
social  advance  in  France  was  far  less  than  the  material. 
It  was  hoped  that  the  new  Assembly  would  be  more  con- 
servative and  that  a  senate,  which  it  is  now  proposed  to 
add,  will  cause  a  great  improvement  over  the  single 
assembly. 

Bismarck,  they  said,  ate  not  only  in  a  slovenly  man- 
ner, but  also  ate  and  drank  enormously  and  the  French- 
men thought  that  he  had  been  "greatly  overrated." 


162     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

The  East  Indian  question,  the  future  of  India  and  what 
to  do  with  it,  troubled  the  Englishmen  not  a  little. 

Saturday,  October  9 

Breakfasted  at  11  a.m.  with  Monsieur  Marmier. 
There  were  present  a  French  admiral  and  two  MM. 
Fouret,  the  heads  of  the  largest  classical  publishing 
house  in  Paris.  One  of  them  spoke  English  pretty  well 
and  knew  of  both  father  and  grandfather.  There  were, 
besides  these,  a  member  of  the  French  National  Assem- 
bly and  also  a  man  rather  younger  than  the  rest.  There 
was  much  conversation,  most  of  it  in  French,  some  of 
which  I  could  not  understand.  It  seemed  to  sparkle  with 
wit,  to  judge  from  the  rapid-firing  remarks  and  bursts 
of  laughter. 

There  is  a  saying  that  Frenchmen  can  never  meet  to- 
gether without  talking  of  mistresses.  Strangely  enough, 
and  even  in  such  a  circle  as  this,  made  up  of  literary  and 
distinguished  people,  some  of  them  in  middle  and  past 
middle  life,  that  turned  out  to  be  the  case.  They  went 
quite  into  detail,  with  names  and  descriptions  and  some 
stories  had  a  comic  touch.  They  discussed  these  sub- 
jects with  the  frankness  and  simplicity  which  we  should 
use  in  talking  of  rare  books  or  beautiful  bindings. 

They  asked  me  about  the  Senate  of  the  United  States 
and  how  the  senators  were  chosen,  for  the  composition 
of  their  senate,  which  they  are  about  to  create,  was  one 
of  the  problems  they  were  trying  to  solve.  They  could 
not  well  copy  the  United  States  method  of  selection 
where  senators  are  elected  by  state  legislatures,  for  the 
nearest  approach  to  state  legislatures  are  their  depart- 
ment governments,  which  are  only  executive  with  very 
limited  administrative  powers.  These  department  gov- 
ernments can  only  suggest  to  the  Assembly,  they  can 


CONVERSATION  AND  MORALITY  163 

never  make  laws  as  our  States  do,  so  the  department 
governments  have  not  the  dignity  of  our  state  legisla- 
tures nor  do  they  represent  such  distinct  local  interests. 
So  they  thought  the  French  will  have  to  adopt  some 
other  plan. 

Monsieur  Rene  Fouret  gave  me  the  name  of  a  good 
tutor  and  said  I  would  probably  find  a  cultured  family 
who  would  take  Paul  Dana  and  myself  in.  We  wanted 
to  have  just  such  an  opportunity  to  improve  our  French. 
He  said,  however,  it  w^as  not  the  custom  in  France  to 
take  strangers  into  families. 

He  spoke  to  me  apart  about  the  subjects  of  conversa- 
tion which  I  have  already  alluded  to,  and  I  told  him  of 
the  different  ideals  among  American  men  as  a  rule.  He 
said  he  had  heard  of  the  same  difference  before  and 
wondered  whether,  present  company  excepted  of  course, 
there  might  not  either  be  a  lack  of  virility  among  Amer- 
ican men  or  of  full  blood  among  American  women,  or 
perhaps,  he  suggested,  a  certain  amount  of  decorous 
custom  or  a  sort  of  hypocrisy  that  kept  these  subjects  in 
the  background.  I  had  heard  somewhat  the  same  sug- 
gestions from  some  Englishmen  as  accounting  for  the 
better  state  of  affairs  in  American  society  than  in  Euro- 
pean. 

I  urged  it  might  be  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  our 
men  were  more  busy  and  occupied,  we  not  having  so 
large  a  class  of  idlers  of  wealth  who  were  seeking  excite- 
ment and  diversion.  In  France,  too,  it  is  with  some  few 
exceptions  presumed  that  a  young  man  is  to  go  wrong, 
while  in  the  United  States  he  is  expected  to  keep 
straight.  Moreover,  with  us  most  fathers  have  set  a 
good  example,  while  in  Paris  the  sons  too  often  learn 
that  their  fathers  are  not  above  reproach;  but  most  of 
all,  I  suggested  that  the  influence  of  the  American 


164     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

young  ladies  over  the  young  men  of  their  own  class  was 
wholly  for  good.  Our  young  men  have  played  with  them 
as  children,  have  met  them  as  friends,  have  got  to 
know  and  respect  them,  and  to  have  affection  for  them 
or  perhaps  even  to  feel  that  they  are  or  are  beginning  to 
be  in  love.  Such  feelings  keep  the  young  men  up  to 
high  ideals  which  no  preaching,  no  beatitudes,  or  no 
moral  precepts  alone  would  do  as  well.  The  American 
youth  were  fortunate  too,  I  said,  in  having  for  their 
national  heroes  such  high-minded  men  as  Washington 
and  Lincoln. 

Marmier  was  kind  and  even  affectionate  to  me. 

Monday,  October  11 

Received  a  kind  note  from  Mrs.  Wyndham,  wife  of  the 
English  Secretary  of  Legation  recently  appointed  to 
Athens,  whom  I  met  at  the  English  Embassy  dinners, 
giving  me  the  name  of  a  nice  French  family  she  recom- 
mended for  us  to  live  with.  Went  to  call  on  this  family. 

Tuesday,  October  12 

Engaged  two  places  with  the  good  people  recommended 
by  Mrs.  Wyndham.  They  consist  of  Monsieur,  Ma- 
dame, and  Mademoiselle  Laya,  and  they  live  in  a  two- 
storied  apartment  at  36  rue  Montaigne,  Faubourg  St. 
Honore.  Madame  Laya  is  English  by  birth  and  is  re- 
lated to  persons  of  distinction  in  her  native  country. 

Thursday,  October  14 

In  the  afternoon  we  moved  to  our  new  rooms  and  had 
dinner  at  seven  o'clock.  The  cooking  was  excellent,  and 
altogether  it  bids  fair  to  be  a  pleasant  place  and  a  good 
opportunity  to  become  familiar  with  the  French  lan- 
guage. 


LIVING  WITH  A  FRENCH  FMIILY  165 

Monsieur  Laya's  father  was  one  of  the  forty  Immor- 
tals of  his  day,  a  member  of  the  Academy,  the  author  of 
many  plays.  Monsieur  Laya  now  lives  with  the  family. 
He  was  an  advocate  and  later  a  professor  of  Roman  and 
International  Law  in  the  Ecole  at  Paris.  Mademoiselle 
Laya  is  somewhat  over  forty  years  of  age  and  her  par- 
ents probably  about  sixty-five.  She  is  a  teacher  of  sing- 
ing of  considerable  reputation  in  England,  where  she 
goes  during  the  London  season.  She  has  herself  obtained 
the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Literature  from  the  University 
of  Paris  after  having  passed  the  regular  examinations 
and  written  her  thesis  just  as  is  required  for  men. 

The  whole  family  was  quite  bright,  lively,  and  enter- 
taining and  our  first  dinner  passed  off  pleasantly.  Mon- 
sieur Laya  is  writing  a  history  of  the  American  Revolution 
and  has  published  two  volumes  on  English  law.  I  think 
he  puts  in  the  mouth  of  General  Washington  the  things 
that  he.  Monsieur  Laya,  wishes  to  prove  rather  than 
what  Washington  ever  did  or  probably  would  have  said, 
in  my  humble  opinion.  Monsieur  Laya  knows  the  pres- 
ent Lord  Chief  Justice  Cockburn,  and  several  prominent 
barristers  in  England.  We  seem  to  be  very  lucky  in  our 
French  family.  The  ladies  are  both  able  to  speak  Eng- 
lish so  as  to  explain  when  necessary,  but  they  are  very 
good  about  talking  and  making  us  speak  in  French. 
Monsieur  Laya  never  talks  in  English,  though  he  is  able 
to  read  it. 

Friday,  October  15 

We  engaged  a  French  tutor  for  one  hour  every  day  at 
the  price  of  thirty-six  francs  a  week  for  both.  Called  at 
Monsieur  Marmier's,  who  was  out,  and  left  a  copy  of  my 
father's  book  "Two  Years  Before  the  Mast"  for  him. 
He  had  read  it,  but  did  not  have  a  copy  in  his  library. 


166     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

Simdaj/,  October  17 

A  CALL  from  Monsieur  Marmier.  He  thanked  me  for 
"Two  Years  Before  the  Mast"  and  compHmented  it 
very  highly.  He  is  going  to  send  me  a  ticket  to  the  open- 
ing of  the  Academy,  of  which  he  is  a  member  as  I  have 
ah*eady  said,  and  he  promised  to  get  me  admission  to 
the  Assembly  or  French  Parliament,  which  opens  next 
month.  He  has  met  and  knows  the  Lay  as  with  whom 
we  are  staying. 

Tuesday,  October  19 

This  evening  Madame  Laya  had  her  weekly  reception. 
At  dinner  were  two  young  Irishmen,  and  also  the  Vi- 
comtesse  de  Perusse.  She  was  very  bright,  clever,  and 
genial.  She  looked  so  young  that  I  hesitated  at  first 
whether  to  call  her  Madame  or  Mademoiselle.  Later  in 
the  evening  her  husband  and  two  daughters  appeared. 
Her  two  daughters  were  just  over  twenty  and  looked 
but  little  younger  than  Madame.  One  of  the  daughters 
is  considered  a  beauty.  We  were  not  introduced  to  the 
young  ladies  and  Madame  Laya  explained  to  me  that  no 
young  men  were  ever  introduced  to  young  ladies  in  good 
French  society.  The  young  ladies  sat  by  their  mother 
almost  all  the  evening  except  when  in  a  game  or  to  play 
the  piano.  We  spoke  to  them  a  little  and  they  appeared 
intelligent  and  sensible.  But  it  is  customary  for  young 
men  not  to  speak  much  with  them.  They  tell  me  that 
as  a  general  rule  the  French  young  men  only  ask  for  a 
turn  at  a  dance  or  remark  on  the  weather  or  about  art 
or  the  last  new  play,  by  way  of  conversation,  and  even 
that  little  is  always  carried  on  under  the  mother's  eye 
and  generally  within  her  hearing. 

There  was  a  good  deal  of  music,  vocal  and  instru- 
mental, and  they  made  me  play  on  my  guitar.   I  sang 


MADAME  LAYA'S  RECEPTION  167 

some  German  and  negro  songs.  They  apparently  liked 
them.  "Omne  ignotum  pro  magnifico."  We  played 
"How,  When,  and  Wliere  do  you  like  it.^ "  —  in  French, 
of  course.  When  the  ladies  got  up  to  go  they  said  good- 
night to  us  all,  but  it  is  allowed  only  to  the  married 
ladies  to  shake  hands  with  men,  young  or  old.  Is  this 
what  the  good  influence  of  young  ladies  on  society  is 
confined  to  by  the  French  etiquette?  On  the  whole  we 
passed  a  very  agreeable  and  instructive  evening. 

Wednesday,  October  20 

For  breakfast  cafe  au  lait,  eggs,  and  bread  and  butter 
at  nine,  being  awakened  and  having  our  hot  water 
served  at  eight-fifteen.  I  fence  for  exercise  on  Mondays, 
Wednesdays,  and  Fridays  and  paint  on  Tuesdays, 
Thursdays,  and  Saturdays,  all  with  French  teachers 
who  can  speak  no  word  of  English.  The  fencing-room, 
or  salle  d'escrime  of  M.  Varille,  is  conveniently  just 
across  the  way. 

Sunday,  October  24 

In  the  afternoon  called  on  Monsieur  Marmier  to  thank 
him  for  two  tickets  of  admission  for  the  opening  of  the 
Assembly  which  he  had  just  sent  us,  and  found  him  at 
home.  He  was  kind  and  affable  as  usual.  We  talked 
French  almost  all  the  time  and  he  was  good  enough  to 
compliment  me  on  my  improvement.  His  manner  is 
leisurely,  his  subjects  of  conversation,  though  mostly 
literary,  are  varied,  and  kindness,  consideration  of 
others,  and  good-breeding  prevail. 

Monday,  October  25 

At  the  opening  of  the  Institute  I  "assist,"  as  the  French 

say.  It  took  place  at  two  in  the  afternoon.  Our  tickets 


168    HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

were  very  good  ones  in  the  centre.  There  were  many 
distinguished  people  present,  but  we  had  no  one  to 
point  them  out  to  us.  There  were  four  addresses  and 
one  of  them,  "La  Maison,"  was  by  Monsieur  Marmier. 

More  than  two  thirds  of  the  members  of  the  Academy 
present  were  bald.  Only  five  or  six  had  really  good 
heads  of  hair  —  furnishing  an  argument  for  the  theory 
that  excessive  brain  work  causes  baldness. 

All  the  speaking  or  rather  reading  was  somewhat  arti- 
ficial and  much  after  the  same  manner.  The  voice  was 
held  long  on  one  key  and  the  antithetical  sentence  was 
spoken  on  another.  In  stating  statistics  or  matters  of 
fact,  the  voice  was  somewhat  plaintive. 

An  account  of  the  expedition  to  the  Island  of  St. 
Paul  to  observe  the  transit  of  Venus  was  received  with 
great  enthusiasm.  There  was  pretty  general  merriment 
at  the  mention  of  some  mistakes  on  the  part  of  the 
English  expedition  to  the  same  island. 

The  audience  was  of  the  best  French  families  and 
composed  largely  of  ladies.  The  dress  was  plain  and 
simple  like  that  of  the  good  Boston  families  rather  than 
of  New  Yorkers. 

Of  the  members  of  the  Academy  only  the  presiding 
officers  and  speakers  appeared  in  full  dress.  This  con- 
sists of  a  dress  coat,  a  vest  embroidered  with  bright 
green,  a  sword  at  the  side,  and  all  their  honors  on  their 
left  breast. 

The  building  in  which  are  housed  the  forty  Immortals 
of  the  Academy,  the  old  College  des  Quatre  Nations, 
now  called  the  Institute  of  France,  is  remarkable  both 
for  its  architectural  beauty  and  its  prominent  situation. 
It  is  placed  on  the  border  of  the  Seine,  on  the  Quai 
Malaquais,  opposite  the  gardens  of  the  Louvre  and  the 
spires  of  St.  Germain  I'Auxerrois,  with  a  view  of  the  fine 


THE  INSTITUTE  OF  FRANCE  169 

bridges,  towers  of  Notre  Dame,  and  having  altogether  a 
situation  emphasizing  the  dignity  and  importance  of 
this  centre  of  art,  Hterature,  and  philosophy,  and  show- 
ing the  estimation  in  which  France  holds  her  Academy 
and  Academicians.  It  is  a  building  of  wonderful  har- 
mony of  proportion  and  beauty  of  architectural  com- 
position.   Its  extended  open  arms  seem  all-embracing. 

Tuesday,  October  26 

This  is  the  evening  for  the  Layas'  reception  or  "little 
salon."  This  time  we  had  a  Mademoiselle  Tribout,  who 
was  very  cultivated  and  intellectual,  sweet  and  unob- 
trusive. She  is  about  forty-five  years  of  age.  There  was 
a  young  man  named  de  la  Roselle  and  a  Monsieur  Mon- 
tucci.  The  latter  is  the  examiner  in  mathematics  and 
science  for  admission  to  the  military  school  of  St.  Cyr. 
He  is  an  elderly  gentleman  of  the  old  regime.  He  told 
us  that  the  candidates  for  admission  must  pass  in 
arithmetic,  algebra,  plane  and  solid  geometry,  plane 
and  spherical  trigonometry,  analytics,  physics  and 
chemistry,  and  while  at  the  school  they  study  still  fur- 
ther in  all  these  subjects.  St.  Cyr  corresponds  to  our 
West  Point  only  that  it  is  devoted  exclusively  to  cavalry 
and  infantry  including  only  light  artillery.  The  system 
of  education  in  every  department  of  France  seems  to  be 
very  thorough  and  the  examinations  hard. 

Friday,  October  29 

To  the  opera  in  the  evening  to  see  "William  Tell."  It 
was  very  well  done.  Salomon,  the  tenor  who  took  the 
part  of  Arnold,  sang  splendidly.  Madame  de  Reszke 
had  a  voice  of  good  quality  and  great  compass,  but  it 
was  cold,  as  was  her  acting.  The  choruses  were  well 
trained  and  sang  perfectly.  I  thought  the  ballet  in  the 


170     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

last  scene  very  much  out  of  place,  for  it  interrupted  the 
thread  of  the  plot  and  let  the  interest  drop  and  had 
singularly  little  to  do  with  the  sturdy  Swiss  of  that  day 
and  occasion. 

Saturday,  October  30 

Went  to  the  Institute  at  Marmier's  invitation  to  hear  a 
new  musical  composition  played  before  the  Academy 
and  to  see  the  award  of  some  prizes.  In  two  cases  prizes 
w^ere  awarded  to  sons  of  members  and  the  sons,  after 
receiving  their  diplomas  for  music  or  art,  went  up  to  and 
kissed  their  fathers  on  either  cheek  in  the  presence  of  all 
the  people.  That  might  appear  very  simple,  spontaneous, 
and  affectionate  as  an  impulse  of  the  moment  did  not 
one  know  that  the  programmes  were  all  printed  before- 
hand with  the  names  of  the  successful  competitors,  and 
that  the  fathers  sat  near  the  president  who  gave  the 
prizes  in  a  convenient  place  to  be  kissed. 

M(mday,  November  1 

To-day  is  All  Saints'  Day  and  we  went  to  the  great  mass 
at  St.  Roch,  where  is  said  to  be  the  best  ecclesiastical 
singing  in  Paris.  The  church  was  pretty  well  filled  and 
people  were  passing  in  and  out  during  the  service.  There 
was  no  programme  distributed  and  from  my  neighbors 
I  could  not  find  whose  mass  was  being  played  and 
sung,  but  it  was  certainly  very  grand.  As  we  entered 
there  was  a  tenor  solo  sung  with  full,  rich  chest  notes. 
The  violins  kept  up  a  running  accompaniment,  and 
after  the  solo  the  whole  chorus  joined  in,  and  after  they 
finished  the  grand  organ  at  the  other  end  took  up  the 
air  and  was  again  answered  by  chorus,  orchestra,  and 
smaller  echo  organ.  All  over  the  church  were  seen 
great  numbers  of  small  candles  and  tapers  burning  in 


FRENCH  POLITICS  171 

the  dim  light.  These  were  in  supphcation  for  the  souls 
who  are  passing  through  Purgatory. 

Tuesday,  November  2 

In  the  evening  went  down  to  the  Layas'  "little  salon." 
There  were  present  Mademoiselle  Strada  with  her 
married  sister.  Both  of  these  ladies  were  daughters 
of  Marquis  Strada,  who  was  a  master  of  horse  under 
Louis  Philippe,  but  lost  his  title  and  head,  I  believe, 
in  some  of  the  rows  since.  They  were  both  very  pleas- 
ant and  dignified,  with  quiet  manners.  Monsieur  de 
la  Rosalie  also  came.  There  were  music  and  games  of 
words. 

Thursday,  November  4 

Had  a  long  talk  on  French  politics  in  the  evening.  The 
French  are  hard  to  understand.  They  are  not  practical 
but  theoretical  in  their  politics.  They  do  not  act  on 
reasoning  from  the  real  state  of  affairs,  but  are  moved 
by  certain  a  priori  illusions  and  generalizations  and  get 
wrought  up  into  states  of  mind  of  which  we  can  hardly 
conceive.  There  are  many  French  of  the  middle  and 
lower  classes  especially  who  have  an  intense  hatred  of 
having  any  one  over  them  in  State,  Church,  or  even  in 
Heaven.  There  are  also  several  instances  of  persons  of 
this  sort  who  had  been  crying  out  for  Liberte,  Egalite, 
Fraternite,  in  the  press  and  in  public  speech,  and  then  as 
soon  as  they  are  given  ofiice  and  power  have  acted  in  a 
manner  more  arbitrary  than  king  or  emperor  would 
dare  to  do.  They  take  perfumed  baths,  surround  them- 
selves with  luxuries,  and  demand  a  respect  from  inferiors 
which  just  before  and  as  applied  to  others  had  been  their 
hete  noire. 

At  present  France  is  more  prosperous  than  ever  in  her 


172     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

past  history.  The  Repubhc  has  suppressed  the  Com- 
mune without  any  assistance  from  king  or  emperor. 
The  measures  of  the  Assembly  have  been  in  the  main 
wise,  yet  the  French  press  and  very  many  people  are 
calling  for  a  change.  The  Legitimists,  to  whose  party 
belong  the  ladies  of  this  family,  say  the  Republic  means 
reign  of  terror,  commune,  murder  and  theft;  they  point 
back  to  1789  and  1792,  to  1848  and  to  the  last  Com- 
mune, but  do  not  notice  the  present  satisfactory  state 
of  affairs.  The  Imperialists  or  Bonapar lists  form  a 
strong  party  and  are  quietly  watching  the  growth  of 
a  youth  of  nineteen  now  living  near  London.  (This 
young  Prince  Napoleon  was  killed  in  the  Zulu  War  in 
South  Africa,  thus  giving  the  final  coup  de  grace  to  the 
Bonapar  lists.) 

There  is  a  talk  of  a  dissolution  of  the  Assembly.  A 
great  deal  of  this  is  talk  only  and  makes  itself  heard 
more  by  its  noise,  I  believe,  than  by  the  number  or 
strength  of  the  talkers,  but  still  the  discontented  ele- 
ments are  not  few  or  altogether  weak.  There  is  still  a 
large  number  of  Communists  among  both  rich  and  poor 
who  desire  actual  division  of  property,  and  the  troubles 
and  discontent  in  Paris  are  sufiicient  to  make  the  As- 
sembly still  think  it  safer  to  meet  in  Versailles,  although 
Paris  is  more  convenient  for  the  members  and  is  really 
the  capital  of  the  country.  The  French  are  quiet  enough 
just  now  externally,  but  it  is  said  they  are  in  a  state  in 
which  it  will  take  but  little  to  cause  an  eruption  of  the 
subterranean  fires.  It  is  easy  enough  to  say  this,  but  I 
wonder  if  there  are  any  great  fires  really  smouldering 
underneath  —  whether  there  is  anything  more  than  the 
smoke  and  small  flashes  of  light  caused  by  cabals  and 
political  intriguers. 


FRENCH  PHYSICIANS  173 

Friday,  November  5 

In  the  evening  the  Vicomte  de  Perusse  with  his  wife 
and  two  daughters  called ;  a  very  pleasant  evening.  The 
Vicomte  de  Perusse  thought  it  very  strange  that  we  al- 
lowed physicians  to  practice  in  America  without  having 
passed  public  examinations.  I  told  him  that  as  a  rule 
the  people  hired  only  the  best  doctors  who  had  gradu- 
ated from  the  best  medical  schools  and  if  any  one  prac- 
ticed without  sufficient  knowledge  he  could  be  sued  if  he 
caused  any  damage.  The  Vicomte  remarked  that  it 
would  be  rather  late  to  sue  a  physician  for  malpractice 
when  one  is  dead.  The  French  system  must  be  a  great 
advantage  to  strangers,  poor  people,  and  those  who  have 
no  way  of  judging  physicians'  ability  to  know  that  any 
practicing  doctor  has  at  least  sound  professional  knowl- 
edge and  training. 

Laya  Pere  read  a  scene  between  Christ  and  the  devil 
from  his  play.  Some  parts  rather  shocked  the  good 
Catholics  but  the  Vicomte  courteously  gave  an  appre- 
ciative purr  whenever  he  thought  it  possible.  Mon- 
sieur Laya  is  a  radical  and  agnostic  if  not  an  atheist. 
I  asked  one  of  the  daughters,  who  was  still  at  the 
Sacred  Heart  Convent,  at  what  age  young  ladies  finish 
their  education  in  Paris.  She  said  that  young  ladies 
generally  left  the  convents  at  seventeen  or  eighteen 
and  sometimes  even  at  fifteen,  but  that  when  they 
left  at  fifteen,  they  usually  studied  a  year  or  two  after- 
wards. 

The  Vicomtesse  is  very  bright,  lively,  and  has  an  in- 
teresting and  almost  handsome  face  when  lit  up  in  con- 
versation. She  was  a  great  friend  of  Mademoiselle  Laya 
when  they  were  at  the  convent  as  girls  together  and 
hence  the  intimacy. 


174     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

Tuesday,  November  9 

In  Paris  there  are  reminders  of  the  Commune  not  yet 
removed,  such  as  the  Tuileries  with  its  gaping  windows 
and  blackened  walls.  These  are  kept,  I  suppose,  to 
remind  the  citizens  of  the  dangers  of  anarchy.  Dined 
with  the  Charles  A.  Dana  family.  In  the  evening  a  Mr. 
Huntington  called.  He  has  lived  in  Paris  twenty  years. 
He  was  here  during  the  Franco-Prussian  War  and  the 
Siege.  He  said  it  was  only  during  the  last  ten  days  when 
there  was  any  difficulty  about  food  and  that  then  all 
able-bodied  persons  got  on  well  enough.  It  was  only 
the  old,  the  sick,  and  the  infants  who  suffered.  He  wit- 
nessed the  tearing  down  of  the  Colonne  de  Vendome. 
It  was  done  peaceably  and  quietly.  During  the  week  of 
barricades  he  was  once  entirely  shut  up  in  his  street,  but 
he  said  the  excitement  was  so  prolonged  that  fires  and 
deaths  caused  him  no  alarm  and  that  he  slept  as  well  as 
ever. 

Paul  Dana  and  I  left  about  ten  o'clock  and  came  back 
to  the  Layas'  salon,  where  we  found  the  room  full.  We 
had  playing,  singing,  and  some  original  verses  read.  At 
the  reception  were  Vicomte  and  Vicomtesse  de  Perusse 
and  their  two  daughters  and  several  others;  in  all  about 
eighteen. 

Wednesday,  November  10 

My  father  had  sent  me  a  letter  of  introduction  to 
Monsieur  Laugel,  who  had  asked  me  to  dinner.  I  dined 
with  him  this  evening  and  there  met  Mr.  Washburne, 
our  American  Minister  to  France,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  W.  W. 
Story,  the  American  sculptor  of  Rome,  their  daughter, 
and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Edward  Dicey  of  London. 

Monsieur  Laugel  is  a  writer,  the  private  secretary  to 
the  Due  d'Aumale.  He  is  a  publicist  of  high  reputation 


WILLIAM  WETMORE  STORY  175 

and  considerable  influence,  and  his  wife,  an  American, 
is  by  general  consent  one  of  the  sanest  and  cleverest  of 
women. 

Story  has  varied  talent.  He  wrote  "The  Conflict  of 
Laws"  and  two  other  valuable  law  books,  so  w^ell  done 
as  often  to  be  attributed  to  his  father,  the  celebrated 
Judge  Joseph  Story,  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States.  He  also  wrote  a  collection  of  poems,  some  of 
them  quite  good,  and  several  prose  works,  as  "Roba  di 
Roma,"  £he  only  one  I  know.  (His  daughter,  Miss 
Edith  Story,  afterwards  married  a  Florentine  of  the  old 
family  of  Peruzzi  dei  Medici.)  Story  was  very  kind  and 
cordial  to  me.  Took  Miss  Story  in  to  dinner. 

During  the  dinner  Sir  William  Vernon  Harcourt  was 
discussed.  I  said  from  what  I  could  gather  while  in 
England  I  did  not  think,  with  all  his  ability,  he  would 
ever  be  made  Prime  Minister.  Laugel  also  thought  that 
he  had  no  chance  for  the  place  in  quiet  times,  yet  in 
times  of  great  excitement  or  public  stress  his  party 
would  look  to  him  on  account  of  his  unusual  powers. 
Perhaps  that  might  be  so,  I  replied,  in  case  of  war  or  any 
great  diflaculty  with  another  country,  but  I  thought  he 
was  too  radical  to  be  chosen  a  leader  on  any  internal 
issues.  He  had  frequently  said  in  the  House  that  he 
wished  to  destroy  primogeniture  and  entail,  and  such 
a  man  with  such  opinions  the  English  were  the  last  peo- 
ple to  trust  to  settle  their  home  affairs. 

WTiile  in  England  I  heard  a  story,  whether  true  or  not 
I  cannot  say,  that  a  company  of  three  well-known  men, 
talking  over  the  unpopularity  of  certain  persons,  de- 
cided to  write  down  those  whom  each  thought  the  most 
unpopular  of  any  distinguished  person  in  Great  Britain. 
They  did  this  separately  on  pieces  of  paper,  folded  them 
up,  and  when  opened,  it  turned  out  they  had  all  written 
"  Sir  WiUiam  Vernon  Harcourt." 


176     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

His  manners  are  rather  rough  on  the  exterior  and  he 
is  rather  careless  in  expressing  his  opinion  freely  of  every- 
body and  everything  without  regard  to  whose  feelings 
may  be  hurt,  but  I  believe  him  in  reality  and  at  bottom 
to  be  as  kind-hearted  and  as  altruistic  as  he  is  powerful ; 
indeed,  I  think  his  altruism  is  at  the  bottom  of  many  of 
his  radical  opinions. 

Mr.  Story  says  the  Italians  are  overtaxed,  their  in- 
dustries checked,  and  all  the  public  funds  badly  wasted. 
For  example,  to  sell  land  under  a  mortgage  foreclosure, 
the  duty  to  the  Government  is  twenty-odd  per  cent. 
There  are  heavy  duties  on  all  buying  and  selling  and  the 
income  tax,  municipal  and  state,  in  Florence  is  forty- 
one  per  cent;  that  is,  he  says  that  with  an  income  of 
100,000  francs  a  man  has  left  to  spend  on  himself  but 
59,000.  There  was  much  interesting  conversation  on 
French  politics. 

I  like  Monsieur  Laugel,  for  he  is  very  intelligent, 
polite,  and  self-controlled.  He  shows,  I  think,  what 
might  be  made  of  the  French  character  with  its  natural 
vivacity,  brilliancy,  and  fire  when  moderated  and  held 
in  hand.  The  Storys  told  me  to  be  sure  and  see  them  in 
Rome. 

Thursday,  November  11 

At  one  o'clock  went  to  the  French  Academy.  Sat  very 
close  to  the  speakers  in  the  inner  circle  of  all  and  close 
to  the  desk.  Monsieur  le  Baron  Vieil-Castel  presided. 
The  order  of  the  readings  was: 

1.  Report  of  the  perpetual  secretary  on  the  work  of 
the  preceding  year. 

2.  A   poem   entitled   "Livingstone,"   by   Monsieur 
Emile  Guiard. 

3.  On  "The  Price  of  Virtue,"  by  the  President. 


HENRI  DE  BORNIER  177 

The  President's  address  was  read  very  indistinctly. 
The  seat  on  which  I  sat  was  made  for  three,  and  after  it 
was  full  a  little  man  came  in  and  insisted  on  sitting  next 
to  me  and  crowding  us  all.  He  sat  on  the  edge  of  the 
seat,  was  fidgety,  had  rather  a  bad  complexion,  and  wore 
boots  which  were  much  broader  at  the  toes  than  any- 
where else.  I  was  as  polite  as  possible,  but  at  heart 
could  not  help  feeling  a  little  contempt  for  the  man. 
After  the  seance  Monsieur  Marmier  presented  me  to  him 
as  Henri  de  Bornier  —  fifty  years  old  —  the  author  of 
"La  Fille  de  Roland,"  etc.  I  was  much  surprised,  for 
his  head  looked  very  ordinary  as  well  as  his  face  and 
general  appearance.  Of  course  my  opinion  of  him  was 
changed  as  greatly  as  it  was  suddenly.  "La  Fille  de 
Roland*'  is  a  popular  patriotic  drama  aimed  against 
traitors  and  for  the  encouragement  of  devotion  to 
country.  It  has  just  come  out  this  year.  The  author's 
name  is  on  everybody's  lips.  I  was  presented  to  the 
secretary  also,  who  promised  to  give  me  a  ticket  to  the 
Theatre  Frangais. 

Saturday,  November  13 

In  the  evening  went  to  the  Comedie  Frangaise  (the  same 
as  the  Theatre  Frangais)  on  ticket  given  me  by  Monsieur 
le  Secretaire  through  the  request  of  Monsieur  Marmier. 
Three  pieces  were  played:  "Tartuffe,"  by  Moliere, 
"Julie,"  by  Octave  Feuillet,  and  "Les  Deux  Menages." 
Mademoiselle  Jonassain  took  the  part  of  Madame 
Pernette  in  the  first  piece.  Mademoiselle  Favart,  Julie 
in  the  second,  supported  by  Febvre.  The  third  piece 
was  a  light  comedy  and  had  no  celebrated  actors.  Only 
one  actor  appeared  in  any  two  of  the  plays.  The  num- 
ber of  actors  they  have  to  draw  from  must  be  very  great; 
twenty-two  took  part  this  night  and  only  two  of  these 


178     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

acted  in  the  "Demi-Monde"  the  other  night.  All  three 
plays  had  the  not  uncommon  French  plot  —  incon- 
stancy of  some  sort,  yet,  as  in  most  of  the  best  plays, 
none  of  the  interest  is  made  to  come  from  the  vulgar 
side,  but  from  remorse,  anger,  jealousy,  mystery,  and 
revenge  in  tragedy,  and  in  comedy,  the  discovery.  The 
acting  was  perfect.  In  the  ordinary  scenes  the  actors 
talked  in  quiet,  natural  tones,  suitable  to  the  occasion 
and  just  as  one  would  hear  in  a  drawing-room,  at  table, 
in  the  garden,  or  wherever  it  might  be.  Strutting,  strid- 
ing, unnatural  voice  such  as  some  of  the  best  English 
actors,  even  Henry  Irving,  affect,  do  not  exist  here,  and 
yet  in  suitable  scenes  there  is  plenty  of  action.  But,  in 
general,  the  best  actors  seem  to  prefer  to  express  the 
most  violent  fear,  remorse,  or  hatred  by  but  little 
bodily  motion;  there  is  a  reserve  of  action,  a  half  ges- 
ture, a  rigid  stare,  or  an  uncertain  step.  There  is 
very  little  hair  pulled  out.  They  do  not  tear  to  tatters; 
they  spare  their  own  heads  and  the  stage  boards  and 
furniture. 

Sunday,  November  14 

In  the  afternoon  called  on  Monsieur  Marmier  who  gave 
me  his  poems,  a  private  edition  copy.  Evening  at  home. 
Monsieur  Laya,  hearing  that  I  had  gone  to  the  Hotel  des 
Invalides  earlier  in  the  day,  told  the  story  of  the  visitor 
who,  having  seen  the  old  soldiers  with  the  "jambes  de 
bois"  and  "bras  de  bois,"  asked  where  were  the  men 
with  the  "  tete  de  bois,"  and  was  answered :  "Les  hommes 
avec  les  tetes  de  bois  sont  a  I'Hotel  de  Ville  parmi 
les  conseillers."  That  suggested  the  English  story  of 
securing  block  pavement  for  the  streets  by  putting  to- 
gether the  aldermen's  heads. 


LAUGEL  ON  THE  ASSEMBLY  179 

Tuesday,  November  16 

Called  on  Monsieur  Laugel  after  lunch.  The  ladles 
were  out,  but  Monsieur  Laugel  was  at  home.  I  enjoyed 
the  call  hugely  and  only  wished  I  had  more  opportuni- 
ties to  meet  so  interesting  a  man  as  Laugel  and  were 
able  to  take  down  accurately  more  of  what  he  said.  He 
was  at  the  Assembly  lately  during  the  discussion  of  the 
"scrutin"  and  said  that  the  "  arrondissement "  —  that 
is,  voting  in  small  districts,  each  electing  one  member, 
which  was  adopted  on  that  reading  —  he  thinks  will  be 
adopted  finally  and  will  give  a  more  conservative  As- 
sembly, for  then  the  country  members  will  have  more 
chance,  for  each  district  will  be  likely  to  send  its  promi- 
nent man,  while  by  the  "scrutin  de  liste,"  or  electing 
many  members  from  large  districts,  it  would  be  possible 
to  elect  as  country  constituents  candidates  unknown  to 
whole  sections  of  voters. 

He  also  liked  the  method  of  electing  senators.  The 
only  difficulty  was  that  the  Senate  would  be  too  large, 
having  from  350  to  450  members.  The  municipal  gov- 
ernments, he  said,  by  whom  the  senators  were  to  be 
elected,  were  responsible,  dignified  bodies  of  men  with 
other  important  functions  to  perform.  The  senators  are 
to  go  out  by  thirds  as  with  us  and  to  be  elected  for  five- 
year  terms  —  rather  an  odd  number  of  years  to  divide  by 
three.  He  was,  on  the  whole,  very  much  encouraged  by 
the  wisdom  and  good  sense  of  the  Assembly.  He  still 
thought  there  may  perhaps  be  further  trouble,  though  he 
hoped  that  he  had  good  reason  to  believe  not.  He  said 
the  French  were  excitable  and  often  unreasonable. 

He  said  there  was  no  real  cause  for  the  late  Commune. 
The  leaders  knew  that  they  could  not  succeed  and  only 
hoped  to  get  off  before  they  were  captured.  It  was  a 
great  mistake  to  think  that  the  Commune  was,  as  some 


180    HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

supposed,  "patriotism  gone  mad,"  but  he  said  that  the 
leaders  had  communications  with  the  Prussians.  Dur- 
ing the  Communist  conscription  his  servant  saved  his 
house  and  valuables  by  saying  that  she  was  not  sure 
but  that  Monsieur  Laugel  was  a  German,  for  he  was 
born  in  Alsace.  The  Communists  never  touched  any- 
thing which  belonged  to  the  Prussians,  and  what  is 
more  their  leaders  invited  a  large  number  of  Prussian 
officers  to  be  present  at  the  pulling  down  of  the  column 
in  the  Place  Vendome.  He  said  a  friend  of  his  has  the 
order  signed  in  due  form  for  so  many  carriages  to  be  at 
the  railroad  station  to  take  the  "Prussian  officers"  to 
the  Place  Vendome  and  back.  The  communication  with 
the  Prussians  was  constant.  They  caused  damage  to 
Paris  and  made  the  Commune  the  scapegoat. 

He  said  that  the  bank  escaped  pillage  because  the 
leaders  of  the  Commune  were  bribed  and  the  others  did 
not  know  how  to  break  in  without  being  directed  by 
leaders  and  without  being  supplied  with  the  proper  tools. 
The  Commune,  he  repeated,  was  wholly  unreasonable 
and  was  without  any  hope  of  success  in  any  respect. 
The  whole  thing  was  like  a  set  of  schoolboys  off  for  a 
"bat";  they  knew  that  they  would  be  punished,  but 
wanted  to  be  as  wicked  as  they  could  when  they  had  a 
chance. 

In  the  evening  the  Layas  had  their  reception,  but  not 
so  many  people  as  at  the  last.  A  Monsieur  Rosalie 
played  on  a  kind  of  French  horn  about  two  feet  in 
diameter  with  eight  or  ten  twists.  It  was  played  with 
the  lips  at  the  small  end  and  the  hand  at  the  large 
end,  with  no  stops  of  any  kind.  It  was  a  very  sweet 
instrument.  His  mother  played  delightfully  on  the 
piano. 


THE  VICOMTESSE  de  PfiRUSSE  181 

Wednesday,  November  17 

Note  from  Monsieur  Marmier  enclosing  a  letter  of 
introduction  to  the  secretary  of  the  President  of  the 
French  National  Assembly  at  Versailles,  where  I  shall 
go  on  the  first  pleasant  day  of  next  week. 

Friday,  November  19 

In  the  afternoon  went  to  the  great  Franco-American 
affair  at  the  Palais  de  I'lndustrie.  It  was  too  late  to 
hear  the  speeches,  but  heard  the  singing  and  music.  In 
the  evening  the  Vicomtesse  de  Perusse  was  at  dinner 
at  the  Layas'  and  a  Mr.  Knox,  an  Englishman  whom 
I  had  already  met.  It  was  Madame  Laya's  fete  day; 
not  her  birthday,  but  the  day  of  her  patron  saint.  After 
dinner  the  Vicomte  de  Perusse  and  his  two  daughters 
came  in.  The  Vicomtesse  charming  as  usual  and  ready 
to  do  anything  for  Madame  and  Mademoiselle  Lay  a. 
She  has  delightful  manners,  speaks  the  best  French  with 
a  distinct  pronunciation,  is  very  clever  and  a  devout 
Catholic.  Neither  of  her  daughters  is  as  clever  as  her- 
self, but  they  are  sensible,  intelligent,  above  the  average 
in  looks,  and  well  behaved,  cultivated,  and  religious. 

Saturday,  November  20 

This  evening  went  to  the  Opera  Comique  which  is  not 
in  the  least  comic,  but  has,  in  fact,  many  of  the  best 
operas  played,  has  always  some  great  singers,  and  is 
under  government  patronage.  The  opera  was  "Le  Val 
d'Andore."  Madame  Chapuy  took  the  principal  part. 
Rose  de  Mai,  and  sang  and  acted  splendidly.  The  opera 
was  very  touching  and  very  nearly  tragic  but  for  an  un- 
expected ending.  I  went  by  invitation  with  Mademoiselle 
Laya  to  the  Vicomtesse's  box. 


182     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

Monday,  November  22 

In  the  morning  went  to  the  Messe  Annuelle  de  Ste. 
Cecile  at  the  church  St.  Eustache.  The  church,  at  half 
an  hour  before  the  service,  was  almost  "as  full  as  an 
egg,"  and  many  persons  had  been  there  for  two  and  a 
half  hours  to  secure  seats.  I  could  not  get  a  good  one 
and  had  to  pay  a  franc  for  the  one  I  got.  The  mass  was 
composed  by  Weber  and  was  directed  by  Monsieur  E. 
Deldevez.  At  the  offertory  Monsieur  I.  Cargin,  the 
most  celebrated  violinist  in  France,  played;  the  organist 
was  Monsieur  E.  Batiste,  and  the  leading  solo  singers 
were  Messieurs  Hottin  and  Proust.  A  beautiful  hymn  to 
Ste.  Cecile  by  Gounod  was  sung. 

During  the  service  a  contribution  was  taken  up  in 
person  by  Madame  General  MacMahon,  the  wife  of 
the  President,  a  handsome,  dignified,  and  beautifully 
dressed  lady.  She  and  her  young  lady  companion,  each 
attended  by  a  gentleman,  went  round  the  church,  in  all 
the  crowd  and  during  all  the  prayers  and  praises,  to  get 
money  for  poor  musicians  and  their  orphans  and 
widows.  The  music  was  indeed  grand  and  impressive 
and  sounded  superbly  in  that  large  church.  Oh,  "the 
height,  the  space,  the  gloom,  the  glory"!  After  the  serv- 
ice was  over  I  went  round  the  church  and  came  un- 
expectedly upon  the  tomb  of  Colbert.  It  seemed  like  a 
new  discovery.  It  struck  me  with  delight  to  come  across 
something  connected  with  one  I  had  read  of  and  cared 
about  in  history,  not  being  directed  to  it  by  guide-book 
or  custodian. 

Tuesday,  November  23 

In  the  evening  Madame  Laya  had  her  usual  little  salon. 
The  Vicomte  and  Vicomtesse  de  Perusse  and  two 
daughters,  and  two  daughters  of  Marquis  Strada,  one 


A  QUEER  MIERICAN  W0:MAN  183 

married  and  one  not,  and  among  others  a  very  odd 
American  woman.  When  this  latter  entered  the  room 
my  heart  sank  within  me  for  fear  of  the  reputation  she 
would  give  my  countrywomen.  She  was  tall,  rather 
stout,  nearly  fifty,  I  should  say,  but  with  dress  and  hair 
done  like  a  young  lady  of  twenty-three.  "She  dressed 
like  twenty,  but  looked  like  sixty."  She  had  too  much 
paint  on  her  face,  spoke  in  a  loud  voice,  wore  the  ex- 
treme decolletee  fashion,  and  was  plainly  common  and 
eccentric.  She  invited  herself  to  the  reception,  so 
Madame  Laya  said,  immediately  upon  being  intro- 
duced by  an  English  lady.  Altogether  she  did  and  said 
so  many  strange  things  that  she  made  me  blush  for  my 
country,  and  the  good  French  people  stared  in  amaze- 
ment. 

She  had  left  her  husband  in  New  York,  her  children 
in  Germany,  and  is  in  Paris,  as  she  says,  to  "amuse  her- 
self." It  is  by  such  women  that  foreigners  judge  Ameri- 
can society.  These  queer  people  inform  their  new  ac- 
quaintances that  they  are  of  the  best  families;  of  the 
*'high  aristocracy"  of  America;  and  the  poor  foreigners 
swallow  this  information  with  astonishing  credulity 
and  afterwards  tell  their  friends  of  the  Americaine,  so 
none  but  the  most  eccentric  get  talked  about  and  it 
becomes  generally  believed  that  our  American  society 
is  made  up  of  just  such  people;  while  the  well-bred, 
cultivated  Americans  escape  observation  altogether. 
But  for  the  constant  dread  as  to  what  next  my  country- 
woman would  say  or  do,  the  evening  passed  off  very 
pleasantly. 

Thursday,  November  25 

Delivered  letters  to  Mr.  Healey's  family  in  Paris. 

Mr.  Healey  was  in  Chicago.    Called  also  on  the  Vi- 


184     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

comte  de  Chabrol,  who  unfortunately  was  in  Italy. 
Healey  is  an  American  artist  and  celebrated  portrait 
painter  who  has  painted  so  many  distinguished  Eu- 
ropeans, including  royalty  as  well  as  Americans  and 
English,  and  is  a  bright  talker,  with  a  large  fund  of 
anecdotes.  The  Vicomte  de  Chabrol,  when  in  America 
some  years  ago,  was  considered  the  best  possible  speci- 
men of  a  young  noble.  It  was  he  who  at  our  house  in- 
sisted on  giving  the  "pas"  to  Agassiz,  and  when  Agas- 
siz  said,  *' I  recognize  your  rank,"  replied,  "What  have  I 
to  offer  to  merit  but  rank?  "  I  also  called  on  Monsieur 
Marmier  who  was  out,  but  I  met  him  afterwards  in  the 
rue  du  Bac  and  had  a  short  talk  with  him.  Made  ar- 
rangements to  go  to  Versailles  to-morrow  to  witness  the 
National  Assembly  which  has  recently  convened. 

I  omit  all  mention  of  the  many  pleasant  meetings  with 
American  friends  while  in  Paris  and  of  all  the  usual 
sight-seeing. 


CHAPTER  XII 
FRENCH  ASSEMBLY  AND  LAST  DAYS  IN  PARIS 

Friday,  November  26 

Left  the  Havre  station  at  half -past  eleven  for  Versailles 
to  "assist,"  as  the  French  say,  at  the  Assembly  or 
National  French  Parliament.  Arrived  at  twelve.  At 
Versailles  walked  to  the  Palace.  The  town  was  stupid, 
dreary,  and  dirty.  At  the  market  the  peasants,  with 
their  broad,  clumsy  figures  and  dull  but  rosy  faces,  were 
packing  up  their  carts  to  go  home  or  selecting  some  hats, 
clothes,  or  other  articles  in  neighboring  booths.  The 
double  rows  of  leafless  trees  on  each  side  of  the  Boule- 
vard de  la  Reine  were  uninviting  and  dismal  enough, 
but  must  be  quite  beautiful  in  spring  and  summer.  In 
the  Place  d'Armes  were  drilling  a  few  small  squads  of 
recruits,  some  of  them  without  guns.  The  sun,  w4iich 
had  broken  through  the  clouds,  was  drawing  the  frost 
from  the  ground,  making  the  air  damp  and  chilly  and 
the  walking  muddy. 

Arrived  at  the  chateau  about  twenty  minutes  after 
twelve  and  was  told  that  Monsieur  le  Secretaire  would 
not  arrive  till  after  one.  In  the  meanwhile  I  visited  the 
historical  museum  and  saw  the  pictures  and  portraits. 
The  pictures  of  Louis  Philippe  have  no  frames  while 
those  of  Napoleon  III  retain  them  with  the  imperial 
arms.  I  used  up  all  my  spare  hour  in  the  museum  and 
had  but  a  moment  to  glance  at  a  part  of  the  park. 

Monsieur  the  chief  secretary  of  the  President  of  the 
Assembly,  whom  I  had  met  at  lunch  with  Monsieur 
Marmier,  paid  the  greatest  respect  to  Marmier's  letter. 
He  said  that  the  only  place  which  was  at  his  disposal  he 


186     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

would  most  happily  give  me,  but  that  it  was  not  very- 
good.  I  was  conducted  by  a  liveried  servant  up,  and 
up,  and  when  very  near  the  stars  of  heaven,  I  was  led 
into  a  little  dusty,  dark,  unfurnished  room  where  one 
had  to  take  the  greatest  care  not  to  stumble  over  some 
uneven  steps.  When  I  got  accustomed  to  the  dark  I 
found  that  there  was  an  iron  grating  on  one  side  with 
some  high-backed,  uncomfortable  benches  behind  the 
grating.  This  grating  opened  into  the  Assembly,  close 
to  the  ceiling. 

The  present  room  for  the  meetings  of  the  Assembly  is 
a  perfect  theatre;  in  fact,  it  is  the  Salle  de  Spectacle 
built  by  Louis  XV.  The  President  of  the  Assembly  oc- 
cupied the  stage.  In  front  of  his  desk  are  some  secre- 
taries and  reporters,  and  in  front  of  them  all  and  between 
the  President  and  the  members,  about  where  the  foot- 
lights would  be  on  a  stage,  is  the  "tribune,"  or  sort  of 
rostrum  from  which  the  speakers  address  the  house,  for 
the  members  are  not  allowed  to  speak  from  their  respec- 
tive seats  or  from  the  floor  as  in  the  British  Parliament 
or  American  Congress,  but  have  to  mount  this  tribune 
to  speak  when  recognized  by  the  President  of  the  As- 
sembly. The  members  occupy  the  ground  floor  or  pit, 
while  the  galleries  are  filled  with  spectators,  and  ladies 
are  allowed  in  full  view  and  not  kept  behind  a  grating  as 
in  the  English  Parliament. 

I  was  in  my  perch  before  the  seance  began.  The  gal- 
leries were  crowded  to  repletion  with  spectators,  for  it  is 
the  third  reading  of  the  14th  article  of  the  Constitution; 
the  great  question  of  whether  it  should  be  "scrutin 
d'arrondissement "  or  "scrutin  de  liste."  The  President 
entered  a  little  after  two  and  called  the  house  to  order. 
Very  few  members  appeared  at  the  ringing  of  the  bell, 
but  as  soon  as  the  speaking  began,  they  poured  in  from 


A  MEETING  OF  THE  ASSEMBLY  187 

the  lobbies.  The  first  to  address  the  house  was  a  near- 
sighted, elderly  man,  who  had  to  hold  his  manuscript  so 
close  to  his  face  that  few  could  have  heard  him  even  if  all 
were  silent  and  trying  to  listen,  while  in  the  noise  and 
confusion  that  actually  existed,  not  one,  even  the  near- 
est, pretended  to  take  in  a  word  he  was  saying.  The 
man,  however,  persevered  and  read  to  the  end  of  the  last 
leaf  of  his  manuscript,  to  his  own  great  relief,  I  am  sure. 
That  long  and  doubtless  carefully  prepared  speech  was 
not  ^Titten  to  affect  the  house,  but  for  his  own  constitu- 
ents at  home,  to  appear  the  next  morning  in  the  country 
newspaper;  that  is,  he  was  talking  to  "Buncombe." 

The  next  member  to  get  up  was  from  the  extreme 
Left  —  the  left  of  the  President,  that  is  —  from  the 
radical  side,  and  occupied  about  fifteen  minutes.  A  few 
of  his  friends  left  their  seats,  stood  near  the  tribune,  and 
patted  the  man  on  the  back  when  he  had  finished.  He 
was  evidently  a  man  of  no  general  influence,  for  the  mem- 
bers, with  the  exception  of  these  few  friends,  went  on 
talking  and  writing  and  some  even  discussing  loudly 
with  each  other,  gesticulating  vehemently  and  not  lis- 
tening at  all  to  the  speaker.  I  could  hear  nothing  but 
occasionally  a  ringing  of  the  President's  bell  and  the 
tapping  of  his  hammer  or  gavel.  I  could  see  the  mem- 
ber who  w^as  speaking  open  and  shut  his  mouth,  turn 
over  his  sheets  of  manuscript,  gesticulate,  and  drink 
sugar  and  water.  I  may  say  that  they  allow  speaking 
from  manuscript,  which  is  not  allowed  in  the  English 
Parliament  excepting  for  mere  reference  for  data,  per- 
mitted to  Cabinet  officers. 

The  third  speaker  was  a  young  marquis  of  about 
twenty -five  years  of  age.  Before  he  began  the  President 
made  a  short  address,  begging  the  members  to  come  to 
order.   This  young  man  made  no  less  than  four  begin- 


188     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

nings,  three  times  giving  up  in  despair  of  getting  the 
attention  of  the  members.  The  fourth  time  he  went 
bravely  on  without  it.  Towards  the  end  of  his  speech  he 
made  some  personal  remarks  and  accused  the  Left  of 
some  political  crimes.  That  awakened  some  attention 
and  called  forth  angry  replies.  One  gray -haired  repub- 
lican got  furious  at  something  the  marquis  had  said  and 
made  a  rush  for  the  tribune.  He  was  held  back  by  some 
of  his  friends.  Wliile  flushed  and  heated  he  nearly  burst 
with  epithets  against  the  young  marquis,  who  had  not 
been  very  wise  in  his  language  and  who  had  more  spirit 
than  discretion.  The  poor  President  of  the  Assembly, 
what  was  he  to  do?  He  had  already  rung  his  bell  four 
times  during  the  last  speech,  had  already  besought  the 
house  to  be  more  quiet,  and  had  kept  up  such  a  con- 
tinual tapping  with  his  hammer  that  I  ceased  counting 
the  number  of  times.  The  young  speaker  got  more 
excited  and  the  extreme  Left  also,  until  the  President 
had  to  stop  the  speaking  and  talk  to  the  house  for  about 
five  minutes.  The  members  listened  in  a  casual  manner 
to  the  President,  but  he  has  not  a  strong  voice  or  a  com- 
manding personality  and  does  not  in  the  least  know  how 
to  control  a  body  of  men.  He  was  like  a  poor  rider  on  a 
fiery  and  unruly  horse.  There  was  really  a  storm  in  the 
house.  The  members  shouted  out  not  only  to  question, 
but  to  interrupt  the  speaker  with  counter-argument, 
and  several  times  in  a  passion  such  as  I  never  saw  in  any 
intelligent  Anglo-Saxon  unless  I  except  the  case  of  poor 
PlimsoU.  So  great  had  become  the  disorder  and  con- 
fusion at  this  time  that  the  President  of  the  Assembly 
threatened  to  dissolve  the  session  unless  order  was  at 
once  restored. 

After  this  young  marquis  finished,  I  had  the  good 
fortune  to  see  Gambetta,  the  great  orator  and  leader  of 


A  SPEECH  BY  GAMBETTA  189 

the  Left,  mount  the  tribune.  The  Assembly  immedi- 
ately quieted  down  and  listened  to  him  with  the  greatest 
attention,  ''  Conticuere  omnes  intentaque  ora  tenehanV 
He  began  his  speech  in  a  quiet,  calm,  slow  manner  and 
almost  conversational  voice,  after  having  waited  for  the 
attention  of  the  house  for  a  minute,  which  seemed  to  be 
as  long  as  five.  He  is  blessed  with  good  vocal  organs  and 
has  an  easy  and  distinct  utterance.  He  has  a  broad, 
commanding  figure,  and  a  "lion  head"  which  he  threw 
back  at  emphatic  moments.  His  speech  was  not  at  all 
radical  or  extreme,  and  the  whole  trend  of  his  address 
was  more  conservative  than  I  had  expected.  He  ex- 
plained clearly  how  the  "scrutin  de  liste"  was  less  open 
to  corruption  than  the  other,  for  in  order  to  get  any  one 
person  elected  it  was  necessary  to  influence  ten  times 
the  number  of  voters  that  would  be  required  under  the 
"arrondissement"  plan. 

(I  believe  there  is  no  general  rule  applicable  to  all 
constituencies  and  that  in  the  country  districts  the 
"scrutin  d'arrondissement,"  as  Laugel,  who  knew  the 
farming  region  believed,  is  the  best,  and  that  in  the  cities 
or  large  districts  including  parts  of  cities,  the  "  scrutin  de 
liste"  would  work  to  the  greatest  advantage.) 

Gambetta  read  some  words  of  Monsieur  Buffet,  the 
Premier,  from  the  records  of  the  Assembly,  expressing  an 
opinion  different  from  that  which  he,  Buffet,  now  holds, 
and  he  ended  by  demanding  of  the  Ministry  whether  they 
were  going  to  interfere  in  the  elections  through  the  con- 
trol of  the  civil  service. 

In  parts  of  his  speech  Gambetta  was  intensely  earnest 
and  spoke  in  generalities  of  his  love  for  France.  He  w^as 
very  eloquent  and  his  most  eloquent  passages  were  ex- 
citing, in  that  he  spoke  at  the  very  top  of  his  voice  and 
gesticulated  in  a  manner  that  would  be  absurd  for  any 


190     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

but  a  Frenchman,  making  movements  with  his  fingers, 
hands,  arms,  and  whole  body  so  fast  that  it  was  hard  to 
follow  them,  and  he  spoke  no  less  rapidly.  It  was  not  the 
controlled,  well-regulated  indignation  which  seems  all 
the  more  powerful  for  being  a  little  repressed ;  but  he  let 
his  feelings  go  away  with  him  entirely  at  times  so  that  we 
seemed  to  see  all  there  was  of  them.  There  was  nothing 
held  in  reserve.  He  was  always  able  to  control  himself 
after  these  outbursts.  As  to  his  gestures,  his  whole  arms 
revolved  like  the  sails  of  a  windmill. 

Monsieur  Buffet,  the  Premier,  got  up  and  answered 
this  speech.  He  spoke  of  the  advantages  of  the  "  scrutin 
d'arrondissement"  in  a  plain,  logical  way  and  said  what 
he  had  to  say  slowly  and  distinctly,  with  few  gestures 
and  little  excitement.  He  did  not  answer,  so  I  observed, 
the  (Question  of  interference  by  the  Government  at  the 
elections  through  its  civil  service  employees. 

One  man  who  next  tried  to  speak  found  the  noise  so 
great  that  he  gave  up  before  he  had  gone  far  and  de- 
scended, but  when  at  the  bottom  of  the  steps,  regretted 
having  stopped,  and  for  some  moments  was  undecided 
whether  to  go  back  and  mount  the  tribune  again  or  not, 
and  at  last  gave  it  up  altogether. 

At  another  time  a  member  desired  to  speak  out  of  turn 
and  tried  to  mount  the  tribune.  The  President  called 
for  the  "sufferance  of  the  house,"  or  what  I  suppose  we 
would  call  "unanimous  consent,"  but  that  was  lost. 
However,  the  man,  who  was  in  a  great  temper,  went  on 
speaking  to  those  about  him,  for  two  minutes  nearly, 
from  the  steps  of  the  tribune,  and  when  made  to  step 
down  from  them,  kept  on  talking  for  some  time  after- 
wards from  the  floor.  I  heard  Monsieur  Buffet  speak  a 
second  time.  He  was  again  listened  to  with  respect  and 
attention. 


SARAH  BERNHARDT  AS  A  YOUNG  ACTRESS     191 

The  angry  and  passionate  remarks  were  not  confined 
to  the  Left,  but  some  of  the  Legitimists  and  Imperial- 
ists were  equally  out  of  order,  though  the  Left  was  the 
most  noisy.  In  one  of  the  wrangles  I  thought  a  man's 
coat  would  be  torn  off  his  back,  but  the  material  was 
too  strong  to  yield.  The  good  speeches  were  always 
clapped  by  the  favoring  party.  The  seance  broke  up  a 
few  minutes  past  seven,  after  a  division  of  the  house. 

Saturday,  November  27 

Called  again  on  INIonsieur  Marmier  and  found  him  at 
home.  We  talked  together  for  some  time,  about  twenty 
minutes,  and  almost  all  the  conversation  was  in  French. 
His  little,  fiery,  black  dog  has  become  quite  friendly  to 
me  now.  He  rarely  makes  friends  and  is  very  jealous,  in 
great  contrast  to  his  dear,  kind  master. 

At  home  we  had  a  nearly  dinner,  quarter  after  six, 
for  Monsieur  Laya  had  had  a  box  at  the  Theatre 
Frangais  given  him  by  the  management,  on  account  of 
his  father,  the  celebrated  play-writer.  There  were  four 
places  and  they  were  kind  enough  to  make  me  the  fourth 
of  the  party.  The  plays  were  "Marcel,"  which  we 
missed,  "Philosophe  sans  le  Savoir,"  by  Sedaine,  and 
"Bataille  des  Dames,"  by  Scribi  and  Legouve. 

Got  acted  in  the  last  scene.  He  is  the  most  celebrated 
actor  in  the  theatre  by  general  consent,  and  yet  in  the 
*'Demi-Monde"  the  other  day  he  took  an  inferior,  stiff, 
and  stupid  part.  His  part  to-night  was  totally  different, 
being  rather  comic.  The  two  pieces  were  very  good, 
both  interesting  and  clean.  Madame  Brohan  acted  one 
part  admirably,  but  though  a  famous  actress  she  was 
rather  too  stout  for  the  part.  In  one  of  the  plays  in  the 
Comedie  Frangaise  there  was  a  young  actress,  tall, 
slender,  taking  a  minor  part,  that  of  a  servant  who  had 


192     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

become  interested  in  the  young  man  of  the  house  to  a 
greater  extent  than  she  reahzed.  Her  expression  of 
emotion  without  a  single  gesture,  when  she  heard  of  his 
engagement  to  be  married,  was  some  of  the  best  acting 
I  have  ever  seen.  She  is  the  most  promising  of  the 
young  actresses,  they  say,  and  her  name  is  Sarah  Bern- 
hardt. 

Sunday,  November  28 

At  ten-thirty  heard  the  Archbishop  of  Paris  preach  in 
St.  PhiHppe  a  special  sermon  to  young  men.  The  Arch- 
bishop was  rather  infirm,  though  not  very  old,  and  had 
a  very  earnest  manner.  He  had  shown  great  courage 
in  the  Commune.  He  sat  down  while  preaching,  only 
standing  for  the  benediction.  His  sermon  was  interest- 
ing, but  on  no  one  train  of  thought.  There  w^re  too 
many  ideas  to  leave  any  one  decided  impression. 

About  five  in  the  afternoon  called  on  the  Vicomte  de 
Perusse  and  his  family,  who  receive  Sundays.  They 
live  in  the  Faubourg  St.  Germain,  74  rue  de  FUniver- 
site,  on  what  we  should  call  the  third  story  of  the  apart- 
ments, but  which  the  French  called  "au  second,"  or 
even  "au  premier,"  by  counting  the  first  story  as  the 
"sous  sol"  and  the  second  as  the  "entre  sol."  To  get  to 
the  parlor,  which  was  comfortable,  cozy,  and  well  fur- 
nished, it  was  necessary  to  pass  through  the  dining- 
room;  an  inconvenience  not  uncommon,  especially  in  the 
old  part  of  Paris.  A  pleasant  call  of  about  three  quar- 
ters of  an  hour.  The  father  and  mother  of  Madame  de 
Perusse  were  there;  both  are  very  intelligent.  The 
father  knows  a  good  deal  about  America,  although  he 
has  never  visited  it.  He  and  his  wife  had  been  great 
favorites  at  the  court  of  Napoleon  III.  In  the  evening 
I  dined  with  Mrs.  Healey  and  family. 


JEAN  LOUIS  LAYA  193 

Monday,  November  29 

In  the  evening  the  Layas  took  me  to  see  the  "Due  Job," 
a  play  written  by  Monsieur  Laya's  father,  Jean  Louis 
Laya  (1761-1833),  and  acted  at  the  Frangais.  The  Layas 
bad  a  nice  box  given  them.  We  arrived  in  the  mid- 
dle of  "Philberte,"  a  curtain-raiser  by  Angier.  The  plot 
of  the  "Due  Job"  is  interesting  and  simple.  The  suc- 
cess of  the  piece  (and  it  was  successful,  for  it  gained  the 
author  $40,000  and  even  now  draws  large  houses)  lay 
very  much  in  the  sentiment  and  in  the  wit  and  nicety 
of  language.  The  elder  Laya  wrote  some  plays  with  a 
democratic  tendency  and  for  a  while  had  to  keep  in 
hiding,  under  Charles  X  and  Louis  Philippe,  but  the 
public  demand  for  his  plays  and  presence  w^as  such  that 
the  authorities  had  to  allow  his  reappearance  and  the 
presentation  of  his  plays.  In  the  "Due  Job,"  Got  was 
the  principal  actor. 

Wednesday,  December  1 

In  the  evening  went  to  the  theatre  again  in  a  box  given 
to  the  Layas.  The  second  box  to  the  right  held  the 
secretary  in  chief  of  the  Bank  of  France,  and  among 
others  a  marquise  of  the  best  society  and  who  was  known 
to  the  Layas. 

Once,  while  the  curtain  was  down,  all  the  house  was 
startled  by  hearing  loud  and  angry  voices  from  the  or- 
chestra chairs,  which  were  answered  by  similar  cries 
from  the  upper,  the  fourth  gallery.  They  told  me  that 
they  were  very  like  the  disturbances  in  theatres  just 
before  a  revolution.  The  noise  was  not  made  by  boys, 
but  by  men,  some  of  them  past  middle  life,  some  even 
gray -haired.  The  noise  continued  for  some  time  and  was 
allowed  to  die  out  of  itself,  its  authors  not  even  being 
spoken  to  by  the  police.  The  theatre  w^as  the  Chatelet 


194     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

and  the  play  a  very  exciting  drama  with  guns  fired  off, 
prisoners  tortured,  horses  running  about  the  stage,  and 
numerous  assassinations  committed.  I  think  it  was 
called  the  "Moulin." 

Friday,  December  3 

Sent  some  roses  to  Monsieur  Marmier  as  I  learned  it 

was  his  fete  day;  the  day  of  his  patron  saint  Xavier. 

In  the  evening  went  to  the  opera  and  saw  "Don 
Juan"  with  the  following  wonderful  cast: 

Dona  Anna  Mile.  Kraus 

Dona  Elvire  Mme.  Gueymard 

Zerline  Mme.  CarvaUio  [the  best 

singer  in  France] 
Don  Juan  Faure  [the  greatest  baritone 

in  France,  if  not  in  Europe] 
Leporello  Gailhard 

Don  Ottavio  Vergnet 

Mazetto  Caron 

It  was  the  greatest  opera  of  the  season.  The  ball  scene 
in  the  second  act  exceeded  not  only  anything  I  had  ever 
seen,  but  anything  I  had  ever  imagined,  in  the  beauty 
of  the  halls,  in  the  richness  and  harmony  of  costumes, 
and  of  the  whole  taken  all  together.  This  tout  ensemble 
of  coloring  is  a  thing  never  lost  sight  of  by  the  French. 
There  were  no  inharmonious  dresses  brought  near  to- 
gether. 

Sunday,  December  5 

Monsieur  Marmier  called.  He  said  that  he  was  dis- 
obeying his  physician,  who  advised  his  staying  at  home 
on  account  of  a  cold,  but  that  he  wanted  to  thank  me 
for  the  flowers  I  had  sent  him.  I  was  very  glad  I  sent 
them,  for  he  was  touched  by  the  attention.   He  is,  I 


MONSIEUR  MARMIER  195 

fear,  often  lonely,  for  he  has  no  family  and  no  near 
relatives  in  Paris.  He  certainly  has  been  most  kind  and 
devoted  to  me,  of  course  on  Longfellow's  account,  but 
I  think  his  warm  heart  has  taken  me  in  too. 

Tuesday,  December  7 

Went  to  Monsieur  INIarmier's  by  appointment.  He  had 
offered  to  go  with  me  to  buy  some  books.  Before  going 
he  gave  me  another  of  his  publications  called  the 
"Voyage  du  Nord."  It  w^as  an  early  edition,  now  out  of 
print,  and  as  not  many  like  it  w^ere  published,  it  is,  or 
may  become,  rare.  He  also  gave  me,  to  read  on  the 
train,  a  paper  edition  of  Shakespeare's  "Henry  VIII" 
in  French.  When  about  to  dress,  his  little  dog  brought 
his  things,  disappearing  into  another  room  in  search  of 
them  and  then  laying  them  one  by  one  at  his  master's 
feet,  who  rewarded  his  little  pet  with  some  sugar,  a 
kindly  smile  and  pleasant  words,  which  latter  were  not 
lost  even  on  the  dog. 

In  walking  the  streets  Marmier  took  my  arm  until  his 
hand  was  so  cold  that  he  had  to  put  it  in  his  pocket.  We 
had  some  difficulty  in  finding  the  books  I  wanted,  for 
some  new  editions  were  coming  out  soon  and  the  book- 
sellers had  sold  off  almost  all  the  old  ones.  Marmier 
advised  me  to  go  to  Egypt  directly  from  Marseilles. 
He  said  December  was  the  best  month  in  Egypt.  While 
talking  to  me  about  the  pyramids,  he  stopped  in  the 
street  and  lifted  up  his  foot  to  illustrate  climbing  the 
high  steps.  At  another  time  he  kicked  out  to  show  how 
the  donkeys  did  it.  He  is  so  very  simple  and  friendly! 
As  I  left  him  at  the  entrance  to  the  Academy  I  felt  I 
should  rarely  meet  a  man  just  like  him,  so  gentle,  so 
kindly,  and  so  true. 

Called  on  Madame  Mohl.  She  did  not  remember  who 


196     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

I  was  at  first,  but  when  I  reminded  her,  she  was  very 
kmd  and  pleasant.  She  is  a  small,  absent-minded 
woman,  very  intent  on  what  interests  her  and  oblivious 
of  everything  else.  Her  husband  had  been  very  ill  and 
had  lost  his  brother,  so  I  had  not  seen  them  for  some 
time.  She  regretted  that  she  had  not  been  able  to  offer 
me  more  society.  Called  on  the  Vicomte  de  Perusse, 
but  all  were  out,  so  I  left  my  P.P.C.'s. 

In  the  evening  called  on  Monsieur  Laugel,  where  were 
Mrs.  Dicey,  Mr.  Henry  James,  the  author,  and  some 
others;  among  them  was  a  young  American  who  had 
recently  graduated  at  Cambridge,  England.  There  was 
no  noteworthy  conversation  notwithstanding  James, 
except  that  a  French  officer  said  that  soldiers  in  battle 
often  have  compunction  about  firing  upon  an  enemy, 
and  gave  some  instances  to  prove  his  case.  The  idea 
was  entirely  new  to  me,  though  I  could  understand  they 
might  have  that  feeling  until  they  had  been  fired  upon 
once  and  some  of  their  number  had  been  shot.  Then  I 
should  imagine  that  they  would  retaliate  with  fury, 
which,  however,  is  not  inconsistent  with  what  he  stated, 
for  he  instanced  the  opening  of  fire  and  not  the  return- 
ing of  it.  I  learned  that  the  Laugels  had  called  on  Mon- 
sieur Mohl  just  after  I  had. 

Wednesday,  December  8 

I  FOUND  that  I  had  delivered  a  letter  of  introduction  to 
the  wrong  Vicomte  de  Chabrol,  who,  on  his  return  from 
Italy  two  days  ago,  wrote  me  a  kind  note  explaining  the 
mistake,  enclosing  the  letter,  and  offering  to  be  of  any 
service  to  me.  The  letter  was  for  his  cousin,  whose  name 
was  not  in  the  Paris  directory  because  he  lives  in  Ver- 
sailles. I  wrote  a  note  to  the  Paris  Vicomte  de  Chabrol 
thanking  him  for  his  kindness,  but  saying  I  was  on  the 


A  STORY  ABOUT  THE  DUG  de  PRASLIN         197 

point  of  leaving  Paris  and  could  not  avail  myself  of  his 
friendly  offers.  By  this  mistake  I  lost  the  chance  of 
seeing  a  man  for  whom  my  father  had  no  little  admira- 
tion and  who  had  been  a  guest  at  my  father's  in  Cam- 
bridge, Massachusetts.  He  doubtless  would  have  en- 
tertained me  and  given  me  a  chance  to  see  other  inter- 
esting and  distinguished  Frenchmen. 

The  Vicomtesse  de  Perusse  at  dinner.  She  was  bright 
and  cheerful  as  usual.  She  gave  a  rather  bad  account 
of  French  society  in  general. 

Monsieur  Laya  told  us  a  story  about  the  Due  de 
Praslin.  He  said  that  on  the  day  of  the  news  of  the  death 
of  the  Due  de  Praslin,  which  opportunely  occurred  in 
prison  just  a  few  days  before  the  Duke  was  to  have  been 
hanged  or  guillotined  for  the  murder  of  his  wife,  he, 
Laya,  was  passing  by  the  prison  and  mentioned  to  the 
coachman  the  news.  In  the  ensuing  conversation  with 
the  driver,  the  driver  said  that  he  and  several  of  his 
associates  were  in  a  tavern  near  by  playing  cards  about 
two  in  the  morning,  when  they  heard  wheels,  and  on 
going  noiselessly  out,  saw  a  carriage  approaching  the 
door  of  the  prison,  from  which  a  man  came  out  who 
entered  the  carriage  and  drove  off.  The  coachman  gave 
a  description  of  the  man  who  had  thus  left  the  prison 
and  Monsieur  Laya  said  that  it  exactly  suited  the  Duke, 
whom  he  had  often  seen.  The  coachman  said  that  a 
coffin  was  also  brought  out  of  the  same  door  from  the 
prison  not  long  after.  From  various  answers  to  his  cross- 
questioning.  Monsieur  Laya  thought  the  driver  had 
told  the  truth. 

The  Vicomtesse  de  Perusse  gave  me  a  letter  of 
introduction  to  her  sister,  Baronne  Haoverman,  in 
Naples,  who,  she  says,  will  show  me  the  best  society  in 
that  city. 


198     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

Among  the  distinguished  men  I  saw  in  Paris  and  who 
called  on  me  was  Carlos  Calvo  y  Capdevila,  a  corre- 
sponding member  of  the  Institute.  We  had  some  inter- 
esting talk  on  many  topics  of  the  day,  not  without  their 
educational  value  to  me. 


CHAPTER  Xin 

ATHENS  BY  WAY  OF  THE  MEDITERRANEAN  — 

BRITISH  AMBASSADOR  —  THE  ROYAL  BALL 

AND  SCALING  THE  ACROPOLIS 

From  Paris  I  went  to  Athens  by  way  of  Lyons,  Avignon, 
Aries,  Nlmes,  Marseilles,  Nice,  Mentone,  Monte  Carlo, 
the  Cornice  Road,  Genoa,  and  Leghorn,  and  from  the 
latter  place  by  boat  to  Naples,  Palermo,  Messina,  and 
Taormina. 

Sunday,  December  12 

As  we  passed  Orange  on  the  road  to  Avignon,  a  young 
Frenchman  told  me  that  they  played  an  opera  in  the 
summer  of  '74  in  the  Roman  theatre,  which  is  wonder- 
fully preserved,  and  that  the  acoustic  properties  were  so 
good  that,  though  much  larger  than  the  modern  thea- 
tres and  though  all  out  of  doors,  one  heard  perfectly 
well  even  from  the  most  remote  seats. 

Wednesday^  December  15.  Marseilles 

At  the  old  port  the  scene  was  a  busy  and  interesting  one. 
Nothing  seems  more  lively  and  prosperous  than  men 
actively  at  work  on  the  docks,  loading  and  unloading 
merchandise  on  or  from  ships.  However,  grain,  for  ex- 
ample, was  handled  in  this  place  in  a  good  old-fash- 
ioned way,  not  with  one  of  our  new-fangled  grain  ele- 
vators, but  taken  out  of  the  hold  a  sackful  at  a  time  by 
men,  who  emptied  the  sacks  on  to  the  wharves.  From 
this  pile  baskets  were  filled,  containing  about  two  thirds 
of  a  bushel,  with  no  other  implements  than  the  baskets 
and   the  hands  of   the  men.    The  baskets  were  then 


200     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

taken  and  emptied  into  sieves  hung  from  three  poles 
at  their  joint.  Without  going  further  into  the  details,  it 
is  enough  to  say  that  the  whole  process  required  a  large 
number  of  persons  to  handle  a  small  amount  of  grain. 
Their  wages  are  low,  but  how  could  they  be  otherwise; 
for  if  all  the  extra  value  put  into  the  handling  of  that 
wheat  had  to  be  divided  among  forty  instead  of  among 
six,  let  us  say,  as  in  America,  how  could  each  of  the 
forty  be  as  well  paid  or  capital  receive  as  much  as  in  our 
country?  This  is  an  illustration  of  how  we  can  afford  to 
pay  higher  wages  without  increased  cost  of  production. 

Thursday,  December  16 

Still  at  Marseilles.  Took  a  row  with  an  old  boatman 
about  the  harbor.  I  found  it  hard  to  understand  him, 
for  he  spoke  provincial  French  and  used  many  nautical 
terms,  but  one  thing  he  made  quite  plain  to  me,  and 
that  was  that  he  and  his  fellow-countrymen  were  all 
saving  money  and  putting  it  into  government  bonds  so 
that  the  French  might  be  able  some  day  to  whip  the 
Germans.  The  feeling  over  the  defeat  is  still  very  bitter. 

Saturday,  December  18 

At  last  I  am  walking  on  the  celebrated  Cornice  Road 
from  Nice  to  Mentone,  which  I  have  so  often  pictured 
to  myself,  and  the  reality  is  not  disappointing.  I  was 
never  before  so  high  above  and  yet  in  sight  of  the  sea. 
The  horizon  does  not  seem  to  keep  its  old  low  level,  but 
rises  with  one  until  the  sea  seems  like  a  great  mountain 
opposite.  It  is  no  wonder  that  the  Athenians  looking 
from  their  hills  said  that  the  ships  dvafiaCvovo-L,  —  go 
up,  —  as  they  saw  them  sail  off  towards  the  lofty  hori- 
zon. The  blue  of  the  Mediterranean  exceeded  anything 
I  have  ever  seen  in  variety,  harmony,  and  delicacy  of 


THE  CORNICE  ROAD  201 

color.  The  blue  was  not  so  dark  or  deep  a  blue  as  I  have 
seen  at  times  at  Manchester,  on  the  north  shore  of 
Massachusetts  Bay,  but  it  was  far  less  hard  and  cold. 

Before  I  had  gone  far  clouds  began  to  come  up  and 
the  shadows  cast  on  mountain,  shore,  and  sea  were  won- 
derful and  bewildering.  I  saw  some  clouds  which  were 
below  the  level  between  my  eyes  and  the  horizon.  The 
water  had  so  many  different  shades  and  the  line  of  the 
horizon  in  that  direction  so  cut  off  by  these  clouds  that 
it  gave  the  effect  of  making  the  whole  sea  seem  like 
clouds  itself. 

The  heights  above  were  also  grand  and  the  grandeur 
was  not  in  the  least  diminished  by  an  occasional  misty 
cloud  pouring  down  between  the  heights,  dimming  the 
top  of  the  mountain  so  close  and  so  steep  that  it  ap- 
peared to  go  up  and  up  and  never  to  end,  but  merely  to 
be  lost  to  sight  in  infinity. 

Sunday,  December  19 

While  at  Mentone  I  called  on  Sir  William  Heathcote  of 
Hursley  Park,  England,  who  is  here  for  the  winter  with 
his  family.  He  has  been  ill,  I  was  sorry  to  learn,  and 
came  to  the  Riviera  to  recuperate.  He  said  he  was 
better,  but  he  did  not  look  to  me  strong,  not  as  strong 
as  Lady  Heathcote,  nor  as  well  as  when  last  September 
he  was  so  kind  to  me. 

Monday,  December  20 

When  in  Paris  Miss  Hammond  (afterwards  Mrs.  Dr. 
William  Appleton  of  Boston)  had  asked  me  to  risk 
twenty  francs  for  her  on  the  roulette  table  at  Monaco. 
Accordingly,  I  took  four  five-franc  pieces  and  put  them 
one  after  another  on  the  table,  choosing  the  double 
zero.   The  first  and  second  and  third  were  lost,  but  to 


202    HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

my  delight,  at  the  fourth  upturned  the  double  zero,  and 
quite  a  pile  of  gold  was  pushed  toward  me.  The  double 
zero  turns  up  but  seldom,  but  when  it  does,  the  winnings 
are  large.  An  old,  withered  lady,  dressed  in  black, 
started  to  grab  this  pile  with  harpy-like  fingers,  but  the 
croupier  apparently  knew  her,  was  on  the  watch,  and 
declared  that  the  money  was  mine.  I  then  felt  the  true 
gambler's  spirit  come  over  me;  I  was  trembling  with 
excitement.  My  first  impulse  was  to  risk  more,  but  I 
was  determined  to  stop  right  then  and  there,  so  I  put 
the  winnings  in  my  pocket,  walked  away  from  the  table, 
and  the  next  day  bought  with  them  a  draft  to  Miss 
Hammond's  order  in  Paris  and  enclosed  it  with  a  note 
of  congratulation. 

The  name  of  the  steamer  I  took  at  Leghorn  for 
Athens  was  the  Simeto.  At  Palermo,  where  we  stopped 
for  several  days,  the  brigandage  was  so  prevalent  and  so 
close  to  the  city  that  we  were  not  allowed  to  go  to  the 
celebrated  church  and  monastery  at  Monreale,  only  a 
few  miles  distant. 

Saturday,  January  1,  1876 

At  Messina  for  the  beginning  of  the  year,  which  I  cele- 
brated by  a  trip  to  one  of  the  seven  most  beautiful 
places  in  the  world,  Taormina.  Messina  is  a  commercial 
and  rather  uninteresting  city.  It  had  been  almost 
totally  destroyed  in  1783  by  earthquake  and  had  since 
been  rebuilt.  The  streets  of  Taormina,  excepting  one 
broad  one  running  through  the  middle  of  the  town, 
were  very  narrow,  several  only  four  or  five  feet  wide. 
There  were  no  carriages  about,  not  even  mule  carts  (none 
of  the  pretty,  brightly  painted  Sicilian  carriages  that 
came  in  later,  after  a  road  was  built). 

While  we  were  in  the  celebrated  Greco-Roman  thea- 


SICILY  203 

tre  the  sun  went  down  to  the  right  of  iEtna  and  lighted 
with  a  pink  tinge  the  smoke  which  was  slowly  pouring 
up  from  the  top  into  the  sky  above.  The  mountain  was 
covered  with  snow.  It  made,  with  the  blue  sea  to  the  left 
and  some  intermediate  flat  land,  a  marvelous  picture, 
framed  between  arches  of  the  old  ruins,  with  flowers, 
grass,  and  weeds  growing  on  the  top  and  in  the  crevices, 
altogether  a  scene  so  glorious  as  to  make  one's  pulses 
beat  with  joy.  After  dinner  we  went  down  by  another 
path  and  as  we  looked  back,  we  saw  in  the  moonlight  the 
Norman  battlements  on  the  southern  cliff  of  the  town. 
On  leaving  Messina  we  sailed  round  the  southern  end 
of  Greece.  A  Frenchman  aboard,  who  came  from  Nice 
and  had  stayed  in  Greece  for  over  a  year,  said  the  Greeks 
were  very  poor,  proud,  dirty,  and  ignorant,  that  every 
Grecian  man  confidently  expected  to  be  Prime  Minister 
some  day,  and  could  talk  for  hours  on  politics,  but  always 
on  personal  politics.  The  officials,  he  said,  always 
robbed  and  a  man  was  thought  stupid  and  hete  if,  when 
in  office,  from  Prime  Minister  downward,  he  did  not 
make  the  most  of  his  opportunities  (perhaps  no  worse 
than  some  of  President  Grant 's  Cabinet  who  were  later 
convicted) .  He  said  the  elections  were  not  fair  —  that 
many  were  kept  from  voting  by  the  military.  He  said 
he  had  traveled  in  the  interior  and  seen  the  battle-fields. 
It  made  me  quite  sad  when  he  said  of  Thebes  that  there 
was  "absolument  rien,  rien,  rien  —  rien."  I  could  not 
help  thinking  of  the  "Antigone"  and  "(Edipus  Tyran- 
nus,"  and  of  how  not  a  trace  was  left  of  the  city  where 
lived  the  persons  of  those  great  tragedies.  A  Belgian 
aboard  told  me  that  the  work  on  all  the  railways  in 
Turkey  was  done  by  other  than  Turks.  He  said  the 
Herzegovinians  were  strong  and  industrious,  but  very 
haughty  and  hard  to  rule  except  by  kindness. 


204     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

Wednesday,  January  5 

We  arrived  at  the  port  of  Piraeus  during  the  night  and 
in  the  dark  had  passed  the  island  of  Salamis.  There  was 
much  delay  in  getting  my  baggage  through  the  custom- 
house. I  had  nothing  dutiable  and  had  so  declared  and 
was  ready  to  have  trunks  opened  and  examined.  It  was 
evident  from  their  actions  that  the  custom-house  officers 
were  looking  for  bribes.  Never  had  I  bribed  a  govern- 
ment official  and  I  did  not  want  to  begin,  though  I  was 
told  by  some  of  my  fellow-passengers  and  by  the  officers 
of  the  ship  that  the  Athenian  custom  employees  had 
no  salaries  and  lived  wholly  on  tips  and  bribes.  This 
seemed  so  incredible  that  I  could  hardly  believe  it,  but 
I  was  assured  from  various  sources,  including  a  Travel- 
ers' Agency,  that  this  was  true. 

Drove  to  Athens  along  the  ancient  road  from  the  port 
of  Pirseus,  now  well  macadamized  but  minus  the  old 
walls.  Not  even  a  ruin  or  trace  of  them  was  to  be  seen 
aboveground.  Here  I  am  at  last  in  Athens!  How  one 
sides  with  this  city  in  all  her  past  history!  I  felt  very 
blue  to  think  that  the  stupid  Spartans  had  ever  pulled 
down  the  long  walls  and  ruined  the  great  city  of  poets, 
philosophers,  and  artists,  and  when  at  last  I  got  sight  of 
the  Acropolis  and  the  Temple  of  Theseus  I  felt  that  I 
had  been  repaid  for  all  the  study  of  Grecian  history  and 
the  Greek  classics  and,  too,  for  all  the  troubles  of  the 
long  journey,  even  were  this  all  that  I  should  see  of 
Greece.  It  seems  to  me  that  there  is  far  more  romantic 
feeling  about  Athens  than  about  Rome.  The  history  of 
Athens  is  more  brilliant,  more  startling,  more  wonderful. 
The  Romans  were  matter  of  fact  and  military  and 
administrative.  Strangely  enough,  students  generally 
side  with  the  enemies  of  Rome,  beginning  with  the 
Second  Punic  War.   Who  does  not  wish  that  Hannibal 


THE  ROMANCE  OF  ATHENS        205 

could  have  conquered?  Then,  too,  Athens  is  older  and 
was  never  so  corrupt  as  Rome.  There  has  been  no 
mediaeval  history  and  no  mediaeval  buildings  have  been 
erected  over  the  old  sites.  This  is  where  Socrates  walked, 
where  Demosthenes  spoke,  where  ^Eschylus  and  Thucy- 
dides  and  perhaps  Homer,  where  Plato,  Aristotle,  and 
Sophocles  thought  and  wrote,  and  where  Xenophon  was 
born,  and  lastly  and  most  of  all  where  St.  Paul  boldly 
preached  Christ  and  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  "to 
the  Greeks  fooHshness."  What  courage  it  must  have 
taken  to  say  all  this  in  the  presence  of  the  most  refined, 
the  most  cultivated,  the  most  philosophical,  the  most 
critical,  and  the  most  scornful  audience  in  the  world !  I 
felt  a  strange  yearning  for  the  past,  a  sadness  mingled 
with  delight  as  I  drove  along. 

Much  less  has  been  done  here  than  in  Rome  in  the 
way  of  excavations,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  the  ancient 
monuments  are  not  so  deeply  buried  and  those  on  the 
heights  or  near  the  tops  are  practically  uncovered. 

Thursday,  January  6 

To-day  is  Christmas  according  to  the  old  calendar  fol- 
lowed by  the  Greek  Church.  On  this  public  holiday  I 
walked  round  the  base  of  the  Acropolis  until  I  came  sud- 
denly upon  a  cutting  into  the  side  of  the  hill  with  steps  or 
seats.  I  approached  nearer  and  was  at  once  convinced 
that  I  was  at  the  Theatre  of  Dionysus.  It  was  almost 
like  discovering  it  for  one's  self.  Being  Christmas  there 
were  no  guides  and  at  all  times  in  Athens  the  monu- 
ments are  free.  I  was  there  absolutely  alone;  no  bars  to 
keep  me  out,  not  even  a  drachma  to  pay.  There  I 
stayed  two  hours  and  a  half,  making  out  the  plan  of  the 
theatre  and  copying  or  reading  inscriptions.  The  old 
marble  seats  of  the  priests  in  the  front  row  were  still 


206     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

there,  though  the  rest  of  the  marble,  for  the  most  part, 
had  been  burned  to  make  Ume,  as  have  been  the  arms, 
legs,  and  heads  of  many  statues.  This  is  the  unfortunate 
fate  of  many  an  interesting  monument  in  Athens,  and 
it  seems  all  the  more  absurd  when  one  considers  that 
there  are  marble  and  limestone  quarries  of  unlimited 
extent  everywhere  about.  It  merely  saved  cutting  the 
stone  from  the  quarry  to  use  some  statue,  column,  frieze, 
or  bas-relief. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  seat  of  Dionysus  or 
Bacchus,  to  use  the  Latin  name,  is  in  the  centre  with 
Zeus  on  the  right  and  Apollo  on  the  left  as  one  faces  the 
stage.  The  place  had  a  special  charm  to  me  as  being  the 
very  spot  where  were  acted  the  plays  I  have  read  in  col- 
lege. This  spot  is  mentioned  in  history  and  in  the  oration 
*'De  Corona"  of  Demosthenes,  and  also  by  yEschines. 
I  remembered  Professor  Goodwin  told  us  at  Harvard 
that  there  was  no  reason  to  doubt  that  these  marble 
seats  were  the  old  ones  used  in  the  fourth  century  B.C., 
so  I  sat  in  the  seat  with  the  old  priest  and  with  the  en- 
voys of  Philip  I  of  Macedon  and  perhaps  where  Socrates 
sat  when  chosen  epistates. 

I  went  into  the  Russian  church  and  heard  the  Christ- 
mas services.  These  were  all  choral  and  very  solemn. 
There  was  no  organ  or  other  musical  instrument.  The 
bass  had  a  superb  voice.  He  took  B  flat  and  possibly 
A  natural  below  the  low  C  and  held  it  long,  with  a  full, 
rich,  rumbling  sound  like  the  soft  pedal  notes  of  an 
organ,  vibrating  after  the  other  voices  died  out  at  the 
end  of  the  responses.  This  is  the  first  time  I  have  ever 
heard  any  note  sung  below  D  that  did  not  seem  strained 
and  unpleasant.  To  be  sure,  this  chorister  had  the  ad- 
vantage of  singing  in  a  small  building  of  splendid  acous- 
tic properties. 


A  GREEK  FUNERAL  207 

While  among  the  ruins  of  the  Temple  of  Zeus  there 
passed  a  Greek  funeral.  I  saw  coming  toward  me  the 
procession  headed  by  priests  in  long  white  robes,  plain 
or  trimmed  with  red  and  gold,  wearing  tall  black  hats 
with  a  rim  at  the  top.  In  front  of  the  priests  were  car- 
ried two  banners  and  two  lights  and  in  front  of  these  was 
a  man  carrying  something  blue  and  white,  long  and 
narrow.  As  they  neared  I  found  it  was  the  lid  of  the 
casket  or  coflSn,  covered  with  blue  and  spangled  with 
silver  stars  and  lined  with  white.  Behind  the  priests  was 
a  singer,  chanting  from  a  book,  and  behind  him  was  the 
body  carried  on  a  flat  bier  by  six  men.  The  body  was  so 
arranged  as  to  be  seen  from  all  sides. 

This  procession  coming  from  the  outskirts  of  the 
town,  passing  the  grand  old  ruins  and  slowly  winding  its 
way  across  the  Ilissus,  and  through  the  narrow  road 
bordered  with  cj^ress-trees  leading  to  the  distant 
burial-ground,  and  the  solemn  chanting  becoming  more 
and  more  indistinct  and  carried  away  by  the  wind  and 
then  heard  faintly  again  and  then  more  faintly  still, 
seemed  to  be  an  emblem  of  the  ancient  times,  as  they 
came  and  went.  The  sadness  of  the  poor  mourners  on 
their  Christmas  Day  blended  fittingly  with  that  strange 
sad  yearning  for  the  heroes  of  the  past  that  hung  about 
me  still. 

Friday,  January  7 

Called  on  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wyndham,  English  Secretary 
of  Legation,  whom  I  had  met  at  the  British  Embassy 
at  Paris,  and  found  Madame  at  home.  I  left  Tenter- 
den's  letter  of  introduction  to  the  Honorable  William 
Stuart,  C.B.,  the  English  Minister  to  Greece.  He  is  a  son 
of  Lord  Blantyre.  On  returning  to  the  hotel  I  found 
the  card  of  General  Read,  United  States  [Minister  to 


208     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

Athens,  and  a  card  of  invitation  to  dine  to-morrow  with 
the  Wyndhams. 

Sunday,  January  9 

English  church  in  the  morning.  We  had  a  good  sermon 
from  SulHvan,  the  headmaster  of  "Winchester  SchooL 
In  the  afternoon  strolled  about  and  heard  in  the  Place 
de  la  Concorde  the  King's  band  playing  opera  airs. 
Most  of  the  men,  except  the  foreigners,  wore  the  pic- 
turesque Greek  costume  with  a  thickly  plaited  skirt 
called  "fustanella."  Almost  all  the  women  wore  Paris 
fashions  and  the  Maid  of  Athens  was  seen  no  more  in 
public  and  even  her  costume  was  not  to  be  found  ex- 
cepting among  a  few  of  the  poorer  class.  However, 
there  may  be  more  women  who  hold  to  the  old  costume 
than  one  sees,  for  they  are  kept  very  much  at  home  and 
do  not  go  abroad  to  be  seen  as  in  the  west  of  Europe. 
Met  King  George  out  walking.  He  is  young  and  has  a 
graceful  figure.  Dined  in  the  evening  with  the  Wynd- 
hams at  Hotel  New  York.  After  dmner  came  in  the 
Reverend  G.  B.  d'Arcy  with  the  Reverend  Mr.  Sullivan, 
headmaster  of  Winchester  School,  and  three  boys  who 
were  "doing"  Greece  with  him  during  the  holidays. 
Very  pleasant  evening.  Sullivan  uncommonly  bright 
and  entertaining.  Received  an  invitation  to  dine  with 
Mr.  Stuart,  the  British  Minister,  on  the  12th. 

Wednesday,  January  12 

The  day  before  New  Year's  according  to  old  style.  The 
streets  were  crowded  with  people  all  dressed  in  their 
best.  The  cathedral  was  decorated  with  flags  and  the 
shops  filled  with  toys,  fancy  articles,  and  sweets.  I 
noticed  that  on  this  gala  day  most  of  the  men  had 
doffed  their  strictly  Greek  dress,  which  I  fear  will  soon 


GREEK  NEW  YEAR'S  DAY  209 

pass  out  entirely  except  in  the  country  districts.  The 
streets  were  very  noisy,  each  person  in  them  vying  with 
the  others  to  make  the  most  disturbance  possible. 
Middle-aged  and  otherwise  sensible-looking  men  were 
blowing  whistles  of  various  kinds,  some  trilling,  some 
changing  their  notes,  and  others  on  the  same  note,  but 
shrill  all  of  them.  I  saw  various  kinds  of  rattles,  like 
watchmen's,  and  one  youth  of  about  seventeen  looked 
very  proud  in  the  possession  of  one  of  these  rattles  nearly 
two  feet  long.  I  walked  about  the  antiquities  as  usual  in 
the  afternoon.  Fortunately,  most  of  them  were  away 
from  the  noise  and  dirt  of  the  city. 

In  the  evening  at  half-past  seven  dined  with  the 
Honorable  William  Stuart,  the  English  Minister  and 
Envoy  Extraordinary.  Here  I  met  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wynd- 
ham,  and  a  young  Englishman,  one  of  the  delightful  sort, 
and  General  and  Mrs.  Read.  The  latter  were  very  kind. 
General  Read  believed  in  President  Grant  most  thor- 
oughly and  considered  him  the  equal  of  General  Wash- 
ington. He  said  that  President  Grant  as  early  as  the 
fall  of  '73  told  him  that  our  debt  must  be  paid  in  coin 
honestly,  and  not  in  written  promises.  This  is  interest- 
ing as  it  has  sometimes  been  said  that  Grant  was  only 
converted  to  that  view  later.  Stuart,  a  Trinity  College, 
Cambridge,  graduate,  has  been  in  the  diplomatic  service 
in  Rio  de  Janeiro,  in  Naples  before  the  united  Italy,  in 
Washington,  U.S.A.,  during  part  of  the  Civil  War,  in 
Constantinople,  St.  Petersburg,  and  Argentina  before 
coming  to  Athens.  He  represents  one  of  those  diplomatic 
careers  we  do  not  have  in  the  United  States,  beginning 
as  Secretary  of  Legation  and  working  his  way  up  by 
distinguished  service.  He  also  acted  in  some  capacity 
in  the  conference  on  American  treaties  in  London  in 
187L  He  talked  of  his  experiences  in  the  United  States, 


210    HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

where  he  arrived  just  after  the  settlement  of  the  Trent 
Affair. 

Mrs.  Stuart  at  table  said  she  was  glad  to  hear  that  the 
bitter  feeling  against  England  was  dying  out  in  America. 
Good  feeling  was  then  sure  to  come,  "for  there  had," 
said  she,  "never  been  the  slightest  prejudice  on  the  part 
of  England.'*  No  one  assented  to  this  remark,  not  even 
Mr.  Stuart. 

After  dinner  they  played  a  game  of  cards,  in  which  I 
joined.  There  were  some  counters  used  and  when  the 
game  was  finished  I  had,  with  a  beginner's  luck,  won  a 
good  many  of  these  counters.  To  my  astonishment  and 
mortification  I  found  people  pulling  money  out  of  their 
pockets  and  turning  it  over  to  me.  I  had  thought  we 
were  playing  merely  for  the  game;  indeed,  had  I  lost 
anything  like  what  I  then  found  I  had  gained,  I  should 
not  have  had  enough  to  pay  the  gambling  debt,  but 
should  have  had  to  give  an  I.O.U.  I  hesitated  as  to 
what  to  do.  The  Stuarts  and  their  guests  were  very  good 
people  and  gambling  on  a  moderate  scale  in  games  of 
cards  is  not  uncommon  in  England,  even  among  church 
people.  I  decided  it  would  be  better  courtesy  to  accept 
the  situation.  The  following  day  I  sent  some  very  fine 
flowers  to  Mrs.  Stuart,  who  had  been  one  of  the  chief 
losers. 

Drove  back  from  this  dinner  with  General  and  Mrs. 
Read  and  spent  an  hour  talking  in  their  pleasant  rooms 
in  the  Hotel  Grande  Bretagne.  As  I  came  out  I  found 
a  bright  moon,  just  past  the  full,  and  as  this  was  the  first 
clear  evening  we  had  had  for  some  time,  though  late  I 
walked  round  the  boulevard,  stopping  and  sitting  in  the 
seats  of  the  old  Theatre  of  Dionysus.  I  longed  to  go  up 
on  the  Acropolis,  but  at  night  a  written  permission  is  nec- 
essary and  that  can  be  obtained  only  during  the  daytime 


SCALING  THE  ACROPOLIS  AT  NIGHT  211 

from  the  public  authorities.  I  went  to  the  entrance  and 
tried  to  persuade  the  two  Greek  oflficers  to  allow  me  to 
come  in,  explaining  that  I  was  a  stranger  from  America, 
that  I  had  failed  to  get  the  pass  as  the  weather  was  so 
cloudy  in  the  afternoon,  and  that  this  was  my  last  chance 
in  all  probability  for  a  clear  night,  and  I  hinted  at  giving 
them  any  suitable  fee  to  cover  any  responsibility  they 
might  undertake  in  granting  me  the  permission.  Each 
officer  eyed  the  other  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  me  think 
that  either  alone  would  have  accepted  such  a  fee,  but 
each  was  afraid  of  the  other.  "How  happy  could  I  be 
with  either,  were  t'  other  dear  charmer  away." 

Walking  back  from  the  Propylsea  or  entrance  gate  to 
the  Acropolis,  I  turned  sharp  to  the  left  and  followed 
along  under  the  wall  on  a  narrow  ledge,  then  climbed  a 
steep  embankment  and  stood  on  the  narrow  path  at  its 
summit.  From  there  I  looked  up  at  the  perpendicular 
walls.  I  happened  to  notice  that  above  my  head  the 
wall  was  a  few  feet  lower  than  in  most  places  and  that 
there  were  several  large  crevices  between  the  huge 
square  blocks  of  stone.  I  became  impressed  with  the 
fact  that  this  was  my  last  opportunity  of  seeing  the 
Parthenon  by  moonlight.  The  next  evening  was  to  be 
the  King's  ball  and  the  evening  after  the  moon  would 
rise  too  late  and  be  in  its  third  quarter.  Then,  too,  I 
wondered  if  it  were  not  really  possible  for  the  Persians 
to  have  scaled  the  walls  about  490  B.C.,  as  traditional 
history  states  —  a  fact  much  doubted  by  many  com- 
mentators. Perhaps  the  professors  were  not  good 
climbers  themselves.  The  cool,  bracing  air  of  the  eve- 
ning after  the  heated  rooms,  the  romance  of  the  hour 
and  place  made  me  feel  bold  and  reckless,  so  without 
further  thought  up  I  began  to  climb  with  my  long  ulster, 
patent-leather  shoes,  dress  suit,  and  opera  hat  on.  I  had 


212     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

got  up  about  nine  or  ten  feet  when  my  hand  touched  a 
loose  stone.  It  gave  me  a  sudden  start.  I  had  now  gone 
high  enough  to  prove  that  it  was  possible  to  scale  such 
a  wall  and  I  stopped  to  consider  about  getting  down 
again.  But  on  looking  under  me  I  could  not  see,  in  the 
uncertain  light,  where  to  put  my  foot  to  descend.  The 
ledge  or  path  from  which  I  had  mounted  was  very  nar- 
row, not  over  a  foot  or  two  broad;  just  outside  of  that 
w^as  a  steep  slope  as  steep  as  the  debris  from  excava- 
tions would  lie,  and  below  that  a  precipitous  wall  prob- 
ably of  the  Odeum  of  Atticus  with  large  blocks  of  broken 
marbles  at  the  bottom.  To  drop  from  this  height  on  to 
so  narrow  a  ledge  would  have  meant  certain  death.  Then 
I  began  to  realize  what  a  rash  thing  I  had  undertaken, 
What  if  I  should  fall  and  be  instantly  killed,  or,  if  I 
had  a  breath  left  in  my  mangled  body,  what  reason 
could  I  give  for  being  in  such  a  place,  or  suppose  if 
I  kept  on  climbing  up  I  should  be  discovered  in  the 

act! 

I  heard  distant  bugles,  perhaps  from  the  palace 
guard,  but  all  was  quiet  above  and  below.  There  was 
nothing  for  it,  then,  but  to  continue  my  upward  prog- 
ress. I  had  only  to  get  my  feet  about  where  my  hands 
were  now,  then  I  could  nearly  reach  the  lowest  part  of 
the  breach  in  the  wall.  I  felt  each  stone  to  be  sure  it  was 
firm  before  trusting  myself  to  it.  My  fingers  were  be- 
coming a  little  tired  and  torn.  Stopping  and  listening 
at  each  step,  at  last  I  got  my  head  on  a  level  with  the 
opening,  which  I  found  was  just  even  with  the  ground  at 
that  place. 

One  of  the  top  stones  I  found  loose.  Then  moving 
sideways  and  getting  hold  of  the  inside  of  the  wall  at  the 
left  of  the  breach,  I  lifted  myself  up,  getting  first  my 
knee  and  then  my  foot  on  the  ground  and  ran  for  sev- 


THE  ACROPOLIS  BY  MOONLIGHT  213 

eral  paces  away  from  the  wall,  feeling  as  if  I  were  pur- 
sued by  a  demon  who  would  drag  me  back  and  hurl  me 
down. 

At  last,  calmed  by  my  sure  footing  on  level  ground, 
I  walked  among  that  forest  of  white  marbles,  mounted 
the  winding  stairs  to  the  top  of  the  Parthenon  and  there 
had  the  most  magnificent  view  conceivable  —  the 
Mgean  Sea  sparkling  in  the  moonlight,  the  distant 
islands,  the  near  city,  and  the  ancient  monuments  about 
me.  The  moonlight  made  the  hills  of  Attica  look  nearer 
than  they  really  were,  while  the  Caryatides,  or  Maidens 
in  pure  white  marble  supporting  the  porch  of  the  Erec- 
theum,  seemed  alive,  but  sadly,  calmly,  and  proudly 
looking  on  a  time  of  heroes,  philosophers,  artists,  and 
poets,  and,  disdaining  an  era  of  mechanics,  practical 
science,  business,  and  filthy  lucre,  stood  awaiting  the 
return  of  the  Golden  Age. 

Perhaps  an  hour,  perhaps  thirty  minutes  of  luxurious 
revel  in  romance;  then  I  had  to  settle  the  question,  in 
common  with  the  rats,  how  to  get  out  of  my  trap.  Then, 
to  my  surprise,  I  saw  three  men  enter,  one  of  them  about 
my  height  with  a  long  overcoat  and  tall  hat  very  like 
mine.  The  other  two  were  short  and  had  low-crowned 
derbies.  Sitting  in  the  shadow  of  some  columns,  I 
watched  them  and  waited  until  they  had  been  just 
about  long  enough  to  make  their  return  probable.  I  did 
not  dare  to  wait  longer  for  fear  they  might  actually 
start  to  leave.  Then,  at  the  selected  moment  I  walked 
straight  and  boldly  to  the  entrance  gate,  planning  if 
there  were  any  question  from  the  keepers,  who  could  not 
speak  English,  to  make  as  though  my  supposed  friends 
were  following  me.  I  got  to  the  gate  and  found  the 
keepers  and  coachman  in  a  hut  near  by  warming  them- 
selves beside  a  fire.  I  pulled  my  opera  hat  well  over  my 


214    HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

eyes  and  bowed  as  I  passed.  One  of  the  keepers  un- 
locked the  gate,  while  the  coachman  stayed  behind  to 
put  on  his  coat  and  relight  his  pipe.  The  keeper  looked 
over  my  shoulder  to  see  the  other  two,  but  I  did  not 
quail  or  waver.  I  passed  slowly  and  with  dignity  and 
walked  calmly  away  and  smiled  to  think  how  puzzled  the 
man  would  be  to  settle  in  his  mind  how  it  was  possible 
for  him  to  have  let  out  four  men  when  he  had  let  in  but 
three.  Perhaps  one  of  the  three  was  put  in  jail  to  lan- 
guish there  till  the  representative  of  his  country  should 
see  the  Secretary  of  State  for  Greece  and  get  him  re- 
leased. If  that  was  not  the  outcome,  at  least  the  keepers 
from  then  on  believed  in  ghosts.  After  walking  and  then 
half  running  rapidly  away  and  fearing  I  should  be 
called  back  and  myself  thrust  into  an  Athenian  prison, 
I  spent  a  short  time  on  Mars  Hill,  far  enough  away  to  be 
safe,  and  then  went  back  to  my  hotel,  passing  some 
marble  pillars  of  the  old  market-place. 

Thursday,  January  13 

Danced  in  the  Queen's  set  at  quadrille  at  the  Royal 
Ball  in  the  evening.  Meanwhile  I  found  at  breakfast  the 
young  Englishman  I  had  met  the  evening  before  at  the 
Stuarts'.  He  belonged  to  the  diplomatic  service  at 
Constantinople  and  had  come  to  Athens  in  the  Em- 
bassy's steam  yacht.  He  was  bound  for  Piraeus,  the 
port  of  Athens,  and  asked  me  aboard.  I  accepted  and 
when  on  the  yacht  met  the  ship's  doctor  who  thought  it 
necessary  to  drink  some  rum  and  water  to  counteract  the 
effects  of  the  sherry  he  had  been  imbibing.  He  showed 
much  concern  lest  some  one  should  forget  to  carry  the 
brandy  to  the  Royal  Ball  in  the  evening.  This  doctor 
expressed  a  supreme  contempt  for  the  American  navy, 
where  they  drank  only  water,  as  he  thought,  though  I 


DANCING  WITH  QUEEN  OLGA  £15 

believe  there  is  no  prohibition  against  the  American 
oflScers  having  liquor  at  their  own  expense. 

It  was  very  pleasant  to  see  the  English  sailors  looking 
so  clean  and  trig  in  comparison  with  the  dirty  Sicilians, 
hardly  deserving  the  name  of  sailors,  who  were  on  the 
Italian  steamer  by  which  I  came  to  Greece.  I  saw  some 
cannon  of  modern  invention.  They  were  breech-loaders 
and  could  be  charged  very  quickly.  The  King  and  Queen 
went  to  the  Cathedral  in  full  style  in  the  morning  and 
stayed  there  some  fifteen  minutes. 

In  the  evening  I  went  to  the  Grand  Ball.  This  is 
given  by  the  King  once  a  year.  About  eight  hundred 
guests  were  there.  I  had  the  honor  to  dance  one  qua- 
drille in  the  same  set  with  the  royal  couple  and  I  was  put 
opposite  the  Queen  whose  hand  I  took  in  the  ladies' 
chain,  and  grand  right  and  left.  She  is  handsome,  at- 
tractive, and  well  favored,  and  was  smiling  and  gracious 
to  me  throughout.  She  sat  down  between  the  figures. 
I  was  asked  by  the  manager  to  dance  in  this  set.  \Mio 
suggested  me  to  him  I  do  not  know.  While  it  may  have 
been  Mr.  Stuart  or  General  Read,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stuart 
were  in  mourning  and  were  not  at  the  ball  and  General 
Read  told  me  that  he  had  got  me  the  invitation  to  the 
ball,  but  said  nothing  about  my  dancing  with  the  Queen. 
Was  it  possible  the  suggestion  came  from  a  higher 
source.''  Most  probably,  I  thought,  some  one  had  given 
out  and  the  manager  took  me  as  an  unplaced  foreigner 
to  fill  the  gap. 

The  King  took  Mrs,  Read  into  supper.  At  supper 
many  of  the  men  ate  with  their  hats  on.  There  were  no 
napkins  and  some  of  the  finest-looking  ladies  wiped 
their  mouths  on  the  edge  of  the  tablecloth.  There  were 
virtually  several  courses,  but  no  clean  plates,  so  cold 
meat,  salad,  jelly,  and  fruit  were  eaten  with  the  same 


216    HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

knife  and  fork  and  off  the  same  dish.  The  King  and  his 
select  party  of  about  twenty  had  a  special  supper  by 
themselves,  where  they  were  probably  better  served. 

Many  of  the  Greeks  drank  champagne  as  if  they  had 
had  none  since  the  last  annual  ball.  They  did  not  mind 
drinking  from  glasses  already  used.  All  the  military  and 
naval  officers  and  diplomats  were  in  full  uniform.  There 
were  no  Greek  costumes  among  the  women,  but  all 
Parisian,  and  very  few  among  the  men. 

After  supper  was  a  cotillon  which  was  very  well 
managed.  The  two  figures  were  simple  and  such  as 
were  well  known  to  me  at  home.  Both  were  figures 
w^here  you  were  led  to  your  new  partner  by  chance. 
The  dance  was  a  waltz.  During  the  evening  I  once 
saw  some  one,  probably  an  American,  who  reversed  for 
a  short  time.  In  general,  however,  all  danced  round 
and  round  in  the  same  direction,  moving  in  a  large 
circle.  In  beginning  to  dance  the  man  puts  his  right  arm 
round  his  partner's  waist  and  they  both  begin  to  walk 
and  almost  run  in  a  straight  line  for  five  or  six  yards  and 
then  revolve  very  fast.  This  method  of  dancing  has 
the  advantage  of  making  the  figures  short,  for  even 
w4ien  accustomed  to  it,  one  cannot  revolve  long  in  this 
fashion  without  becoming  dizzy. 

The  Queen  wore  a  handsome  and  expensive  wine- 
colored  overskirt  above  a  lavender  underskirt  and  a 
crown  richly  set  in  diamonds,  but  her  dress  did  not 
become  her.  The  King  danced  very  well.  He  is  King 
George  I  and  brother  of  the  Princess  of  Wales  (now 
Dowager  Queen  Alexandra  of  England).  The  Queen  is 
Olga  Constantinovna,  a  Grand  Duchess  of  the  Imperial 
House  of  Russia.  (George  I  was  assassinated  in  1913 
and  was  succeeded  by  Constantine  with  his  German 
wife.) 


QUEEN  OLGA  OF  GREECE  AND  PRINCESS  MARIE 


A  GREEK  SUNSET  217 

Friday,  January  14 

Made  afternoon  calls  on  Mr.  d'Arcy,  the  WjTidhams, 
and  the  Stuarts,  and  in  the  evening  on  the  Reads,  where 
I  lingered  for  three  pleasant  hours,  at  least  pleasant  to 
me  and  I  hope  not  wearisome  to  them. 

Saturday,  January  15 

Walked  with  Mr.  Cross,  an  Englishman  I  met  at  the 
Embassy,  to  the  Bay  of  Eleusis  and  back,  a  tramp  of 
sixteen  miles. 

Wednesday,  January  19 

I  MET  the  King  out  walking.  He  had  on  a  stiff-crowned, 
tall  hat  and  brown  kid  gloves.  His  companion,  a  middle- 
aged  man,  had  on  white  kid  gloves,  though  walking  on  a 
lonely  and  dusty  road.  We  bowed  as  we  passed  and  the 
King  seemed  to  recognize  me,  probably  as  a  dancer  in  a 
set  with  himself  and  the  Queen  at  the  Royal  Ball  six 
days  before,  though  I  would  wager  he  could  n't  for  the 
life  of  him  either  tell  my  name  or  whether  I  were  English 
or  American. 

Thursday,  January  20 

As  I  turned  to  walk  home  from  a  tramp  toward  Char- 
vati  the  sun  was  beginning  to  set  amid  great  profusion  of 
separate  clouds.  As  I  was  winding  round  a  gradual  bend 
in  the  road,  with  a  hill  on  my  right  hiding  the  sun,  I 
came  upon  a  drove  of  ten  or  a  dozen  donkeys  heavily 
laden  with  fagots.  These  were  ahead  of  me,  so  the  sun 
was  shining  among  them  while  I  was  in  shadow.  The 
effect  was  strikingly  picturesque.  The  animals,  with 
their  irregular-shaped  burdens,  were  darkly  marked 
against  the  violet  hills  beyond  while  the  clouds  of  dust 
stirred  up  by  their  feet  were  richly  tinted  with  orange. 


218     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

As  I  gradually  rounded  the  curve  in  the  road  under  the 
base  of  the  hill,  I  saw  before  me  the  "city  of  the  violet 
crown,"  till  at  last  the  sun  burst  full  upon  me,  shining 
through  the  columns  of  the  Parthenon,  and  then,  while  I 
was  looking,  only  too  quickly  sank  behind  the  Acropolis, 
leaving  the  ground  about  me  in  shadow;  then  looking 
back  I  saw  its  rays  suddenly  lighting  up  snow-topped 
Hymettus  and  in  a  moment  after  the  whole  of  the  cloud 
above.  This  sunset,  whether  superior  to  any  other  I 
have  seen  before  or  not,  was  certainly  rendered  thrilling 
by  the  Acropolis  and  the  snow  on  the  classic  mountains, 
and  warmed  me  with  the  associations  of  the  place. 
"VMiether  there  may  be  in  the  Alpine  sunsets  combina- 
tions of  color  more  gorgeous  still  than  this,  I  do  not 
know,  but  there  is  no  place  in  the  world  that  has  for  me 
the  background  of  history,  literature,  and  art  to  set  off 
the  wonderful  effects  of  nature  that  are  here. 

The  more  I  see  of  this  country,  the  more  I  am  im- 
pressed with  its  smallness.  I  think  it  is  Goethe  who 
spoke  of  "a  great  country  with  a  small  area."  From  the 
Acropolis  of  Athens  one  can  see  into  Argolis.  Mara- 
thon is  but  twenty-two  miles  away  by  a  winding  road. 
The  amount  of  arable  land  of  the  valleys  of  Attica  even 
a  Highland  Scotchman  might  despise,  and  as  I  was  walk- 
ing along,  musing  on  the  wonderful  history  of  Greece,  I 
was  more  forcibly  struck  than  ever  by  the  great  con- 
trast between  the  small  size  and  barrenness  of  the 
country  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other  hand  the 
great  power  and  influence  of  the  Greeks  upon  the 
world.  Why  is  it  that  at  Harvard,  Oxford,  Cambridge, 
and,  in  fact,  in  every  university  in  Europe  the  history 
of  this  little  place  should  be  carefully  taught,  often  to 
the  neglect  of  that  of  larger  and  richer  countries  in 
Europe.^  It  seems  to  show  more  plainly  than  anything 


GREEK  FREEDOM  219 

else  the  great  superiority  of  the  intellect  and  soul  over 
mere  materialism.  I  wish  some  of  our  politicians  at 
home,  who  talk  of  the  "vast  extent  and  boundless  re- 
sources" of  our  country,  could  be  made  to  feel  this.  It 
is  quality  and  not  quantity  that  counts. 

Saturday,  January  22 

I  BADE  good-bye  to  the  Acropolis,  the  Pnyx,  Mars  Hill, 
and  the  Theatre  of  Dionysus.  As  I  said  au  revoir  to 
Greece,  I  thought  with  sadness  how  the  jealousies  and 
extreme  states'  rights  doctrines  kept  the  ancient  Greeks 
from  combining  into  one  large  and  powerful  nation.  No 
state  was  then  willing  to  part  with  one  jot  of  its  sov- 
ereignty for  the  benefit  of  the  whole,  itself  included 
The  Athenians  had  to  meet  the  whole  Persian  force  at 
Marathon  with  only  a  few  troops  from  the  town  of 
Platsea  to  aid  them,  while  at  Thermopylae  the  Lace- 
daemonians had  only  a  handful  of  Thebans  and  Thes- 
pians to  assist.  The  internal  wars,  too,  between  these 
states  still  further  weakened  Greece  so  that  it  was  easy 
for  Philip  of  Macedon  to  take  advantage  of  the  jeal- 
ousies of  these  belittled  nations,  to  prevent  united  action 
against  his  encroachments. 

Traveling  into  the  interior  was  practically  prohibited 
because  the  Government  would  not  allow  any  excursion 
even  to  Marathon  or  Corinth  or  to  any  part  of  the 
Peloponnesus  without  a  strong  armed  guard.  Only  a 
little  over  five  years  ago  an  Englishman  by  the  name  of 
Vyner  and  his  friends  were  carried  off  by  brigands  within 
thirteen  miles  of  Athens  on  the  road  toward  Marathon. 

Lord  Byron's  prophetic  dream  "that  Greece  might 
still  be  free  "  has  come  to  pass,  but  what  will  she  make  of 
her  freedom.^  That  remains  to  be  seen.  The  states  once 
kept  apart  are  now  united  into  one  nation  and  local 


220    HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

jealousies  have  ended.  On  the  whole,  I  do  not  think  the 
Greeks  are  so  dishonest  or  worthless  as  commonly 
stated.  When  the  Turks  were  repudiating  some  of  their 
bonds,  the  phrase  was  current,  "Le  Turc  est  devenu 
Grec."  But  I  think  that  is  unfair.  While  in  politics 
they  are  corrupt,  in  ordinary  business  transactions  they 
are  pretty  honest  and  keep  their  word  as  far  as  I  can 
judge  from  all  I  hear  and  see. 

I  was  sorry  to  read  to-day  in  the  "Times"  of  the  11th 
the  news  of  the  death  of  Lord  Amberley,  the  eldest  son 
of  Lord  and  Lady  Russell  who  were  so  kind  to  me  while 
in  England. 

Sunday,  January  23 

In  the  afternoon,  before  sailing,  called  on  General  and 
Mrs.  Read.  Mrs.  Read  said  that  the  Grecians  were  very 
inhospitable.  This  was  caused,  she  thought,  partly  by 
their  poverty.  Her  painting  master  has  charge  of  the 
drawing  in  all  the  schools  and  he  says  "there  is  not 
a  particle  of  talent  for  drawing  among  the  modern 
Greeks."  Think  of  this  for  the  country  of  Phidias! 

I  left  for  Egypt  in  the  evening  in  one  of  the  new 
steamers,  named  the  Behera,  with  which  the  Khedive 
is  trying  to  build  up  a  merchant  marine  for  his  country. 
On  this  vessel  the  third-class  passengers  all  slept  on 
deck,  the  women  in  a  kind  of  tent  by  themselves  aft  of 
the  first-class  smoking-cabin,  while  the  others  were  kept 
forward.  A  temporary  fence  was  put  up  and  a  guard  set 
to  watch.  The  third-class  passengers  were  mostly  Turks 
and  Arabs  with  a  few  Greeks;  many  of  the  two  former 
were  pilgrims.  During  the  passage  the  vessel  rolled 
very  badly  for  the  size  of  the  waves.  Her  cargo  was 
placed  too  high  because  it  was  more  convenient  to  have 
it  near  the  top  for  loading  and  unloading.   Before  we 


THE  iEGEAN  221 

lost  sight  of  the  poetic  island  of  Naxos,  where  Theseus 
left  his  faithful  Ariadne,  the  rolling  became  horrible. 
Directly  above  my  stateroom  were  some  donkeys  or 
mules  on  the  deck,  and  as  my  berth  was  an  upper  one 
and  the  decks  a  good  conductor  of  sound,  I  was  all 
night  long  reminded  of  the  presence  of  these  poor  strug- 
gling animals.  The  vessel  would  roll  over  to  starboard 
and  those  on  the  port  would  be  struggling  to  prevent 
being  hung  by  their  halters.  The  vessel  would  lie  over 
for  a  long  time  nearly  on  its  side  as  if  she  would  never 
right  herself  again,  it  seemed  to  me;  then  suddenly 
would  turn  with  a  great  rush  as  far  the  other  way;  and 
then  the  poor  donkeys  would  all  begin  backing  to  pre- 
vent their  heads  being  knocked  into  the  bulwarks.  I 
went  on  deck  to  see  what  could  be  done,  but  there  were 
no  appliances  at  hand  to  better  conditions  for  these 
suffering  creatures. 

At  other  times  when  the  vessel  was  pitching  I  would 
hear  the  stamping  begin  in  the  distance  and  then  come 
nearer  and  nearer  as  the  mules  tumbled  upon  one  another 
like  a  row  of  card  houses,  until  at  last  a  kick  close  to  my 
head  sounded  as  if  the  feet  were  coming  through  the 
boards.  The  stamping  would  be  followed  by  a  little 
silence,  then  would  come  again  the  slipping  of  feet  and 
trying  to  get  hold  of  the  deck  again.  After  this  another 
silence,  sometimes  lasting  for  five  seconds,  and  I  would 
try  to  get  to  sleep  before  the  whole  process  was  repeated, 
but  vain  were  my  attempts  till  the  early  hours  of  morn- 
ing. We  stopped  at  Rhodes,  but  only  for  a  short  time 
during  the  night  and  leaving  about  three  in  the  morning. 
Think  of  it!  Rhodes!  The  Colossus  of  Rhodes  has 
disappeared. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

EGYPT  — THE  ENGLISH  EMBASSY  —  GENERAL-IN- 
CHIEF  —  EGYPTIAN  INJUSTICE 

Wednesday,  January  26 

Preparations  went  on  for  landing  at  Alexandria.  The 
deck  was  swabbed  up  for  the  first  time  since  leaving 
Athens.  On  other  days  it  had  just  been  swept  a  little  in 
the  neighborhood  of  the  first-  and  second-class  pas- 
sengers' seats  only.  The  log  had  been  thrown  over  regu- 
larly during  the  voyage. 

The  sailors  were  mostly  Arabians  and  more  dirty  than 
the  Sicilians  of  my  last  steamer.  They  had  a  great  lack 
of  physical  force  and  energy.  They  had  twice  very 
nearly  let  go  of  the  log  and  they  only  worked  with  a  will 
for  a  moment  or  two  when  it  was  absolutely  necessary. 
Perhaps  they  were  all  seasick;  they  acted  as  if  they 
were.  Usually  they  took  hold  with  only  one  hand  in 
pulling  on  the  ropes  and  they  sang  a  refrain  in  a  low 
undertone  in  answer  to  a  call  from  one  of  them  on  a 
higher  key.  The  effect  was  strange.  It  was  not  a  loud, 
stirring  call  like  that  of  sailors  on  the  North  Atlantic, 
but  soft  and  quiet  as  if  they  were  murmuring  to  them- 
selves or  saying  an  evening  hymn  to  Allah.  Seventeen 
of  them  took  part  in  hauling  in  the  little  dingey  astern 
on  leaving  the  Pirseus,  and  the  whole  lot  took  about  five 
times  as  long  as  it  would  have  taken  two  American  or 
British  sailors  to  do  the  same  job.  "What,"  said  I  to 
myself,  "would  happen  in  case  of  an  accident  and  an 
attempt  to  launch  the  large  lifeboats?" 

Before  reaching  port  the  women's  tent  was  taken  down 
and  disclosed  a  harem  with  its  mistress.   The  faces  of 


JOURNEY  FROM  ALEXANDRIA  TO  CAIRO       223 

the  women  were  pretty  with  large  eyes  and  pink-and- 
white  complexions,  but  they  had  either  no  expression 
whatsoever  or  a  silly  one.  They  were  much  amused  at 
seeing  men  and  some  of  them  most  boldly  winked  at  us. 
They  probably  never  had  had  such  a  chance  for  a  little 
flirtation  before  and  never  would  again. 

The  journey  of  four  and  a  half  hours  from  Alexandria 
to  Cairo  was  a  succession  of  delights  and  I  was  in  high 
spirits.  The  morning  lights  on  the  perfectly  calm  water 
in  the  pools  and  rivers  of  the  Delta,  reflecting  palm- 
trees,  huge  water  birds,  and  every  cloud  in  the  sky;  the 
fresh,  juicy -looking  clover;  long  cotton  fields  looking 
like  huge  flakes  of  snow  fallen  upon  a  brown  soil;  the 
mouse-colored  Egyptian  cattle  with  crooked,  flattened 
horns;  long  rows  of  solemn  camels;  and  not  least  of  all 
the  small  mud  villages  looking  like  muskrat  huts  placed 
among  palm-trees,  only  they  had  their  entrances  above 
instead  of  under  the  waterline;  the  fine,  manly,  dark- 
colored  natives;  the  graceful  water-carriers  with  their 
long,  dark  blue  cloaks,  and  the  endless  fields  stretching 
off  without  fences  to  the  horizon;  the  cities  with  their 
mosques,  palaces,  and  huts,  a  sight  of  the  distant  brown, 
red,  and  yellow  hills  of  the  desert,  and  before  reaching 
Cairo  a  glimpse  of  the  great  pyramids  reflected  in  the 
river  —  all  seen  when  in  such  good  spirits  and  with  a 
light  heart  were  thrilling  indeed.  I  felt  as  happy  as  a 
king,  or  sultan  I  suppose  I  should  say  here. 

Went  to  the  Hotel  du  Nil.  The  approach  was  through 
a  long,  narrow  street,  too  narrow  for  carriages,  leading 
off  the  Muski,  where  we  left  the  omnibus  and  put  the 
trunk  on  the  back  of  a  carrier.  I  began  to  think  there 
must  have  been  some  mistake  and  that  he  was  leading 
me  off  into  an  obscure  quarter  to  rob  me,  but  soon  the 
hotel  was  reached  and  proved  to  be  both  pretty  and 


224    HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

cozy.  It  is  built  round  a  garden  about  one  quarter 
of  an  acre  with  seats,  summer  houses,  palm-trees,  and 
shrubs. 

After  lunch  I  took  a  donkey  and  a  boy  who  ran  on 
behind  whipping  the  donkey  and  directing  me  where  to 
go,  headed  for  the  bankers  Todd,  Mliller  et  Cie.,  who 
were  down  the  darkest,  dirtiest  alley  I  ever  saw.  When 
the  boy  told  me  to  get  off  at  a  stone  gateway  leading  into 
an  unlighted  passage  without  any  sign,  I  thought  he  was 
mad,  but  he  was  n't;  he  turned  out  to  be  right. 

I  delivered  letters  of  introduction  to  General  Stanton, 
the  British  Consul-General,  and  to  General  Charles 
Pomeroy  Stone,  a  West  Point  officer  who  is  now  com- 
mander-in-chief of  the  Khedive's  forces  in  Egypt  and 
has  charge  of  the  chief  engineering  works,  especially 
those  connected  with  the  great  dams  and  reservoirs  to 
increase  the  flow  of  the  Nile  during  the  low  season. 

Friday,  January  28 

Spent  the  day  seeing  the  usual  guide-book  sights,  and 
in  the  evening  dined  informally  with  General  Stone  and 
his  wife.  He  explained  the  military,  engineering,  and 
commercial  problems  of  the  country  most  interestingly, 
and  we  also  talked  of  common  friends  at  home. 

Saturday,  January  29 

I  LIKE  the  native  Egyptian  men.  They  have  good 
figures,  manly  bearing,  fine  heads,  straight  and  well- 
shaped  noses,  and  are  industrious.  They  strike  one  as 
far  superior  to  the  Italians  of  southern  Italy  and  are 
more  useful  men  than  the  modern  Greeks;  less  posing 
and  more  simplicity.  General  Stone  said  they  make  the 
best  soldiers  he  has  ever  seen,  for  they  bear  great  fatigue, 
are  energetic,  subordinate,  and  intelligent.  In  speaking 


SOLDIERS'  BOYS'  SCHOOL  IN  CAIRO  225 

with  them  one  forgets  the  color  as  Desdemona  did 
Othello's. 

After  lunch  went  on  donkey  to  the  Citadel  to  meet 
General  Stone  by  appointment.  He  showed  me  about  a 
little,  but  then,  having  some  business  appointments, 
handed  me  over  to  Major  Hall,  an  American,  formerly 
an  officer  in  the  Confederate  States'  army.  INIajor  Hall 
spoke  with  great  warmth  of  General  Stone's  ability  and 
high  character. 

With  him  I  visited  the  soldiers'  boys'  school.  Every 
soldier  and  officer  in  the  Egyptian  army  has  a  right  to 
send  his  son  to  this  school  from  the  ages  of  six  to  six- 
teen. It  is  a  day  school.  There  he  is  taught  reading, 
writing,  arithmetic,  geography,  a  little  geometry,  Eng- 
lish, and  French,  and  there  he  is  clothed  and  given  one 
meal  a  day.  There  are  now  twelve  hundred  such  boys. 
They  are  bright,  neat  lads.  I  heard  several  classes  of 
them  recite,  and  read.  This  is  all  General  Stone's  idea, 
which  the  Khedive  has  allowed  him  to  carry  out.  In 
another  year  General  Stone  hopes  that  all  the  soldiers' 
children,  not  living  near  enough  to  come  and  go  every 
day,  are  to  be  housed  as  well  as  fed. 

I  saw  the  printing  office  of  the  War  Department. 
They  made  their  own  type.  For  printing  in  Arabic, 
which  is  the  language  of  the  country  except  of  the  court, 
which  is  Persian,  there  are  256  different  letters  to  be 
used. 

I  saw  the  "Volunteer  Corps."  This  is  made  up  of 
boys  and  men  over  sixteen.  They  drill,  live  and  dress 
like  soldiers  and  study  courses  between  the  primary  and 
the  upper  military  schools.  The  most  promising  of  these 
become,  if  they  choose,  candidates  for  the  Eg^^ptian 
West  Point. 

Major  Hall,  being  a  Southerner,  puts  the  position  as 


226    HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

held  by  the  SouthernConf  ederates  in  this  way :  they  were 
neither  wrong  nor  mistaken  during  the  Civil  War,  but 
now  that  the  question  is  settled,  again  to  try  to  secede 
would  be  treason. 

While  I  did  not  agree  as  to  right  of  secession,  I  made 
no  reply,  not  caring  to  enter  into  discussion  with  a 
gallant  foe  over  a  now  dead  issue. 

After  dinner  had  a  call  from  Mr.  C.  Inman  Barnard, 
who  is  out  here  as  secretary  to  General  Stone,  a  gentle- 
manly, friendly,  handsome  and  agreeable  fellow. 

As  illustrating  the  value  of  ancient  history,  the  other 
day  an  inscription  four  thousand  years  old  was  made  use 
of  as  the  only  source  of  information  as  to  the  position  of 
the  wells  in  Upper  Egypt,  where  is  the  present  military 
expedition.  It  is  rather  odd  to  have  to  refer  so  far  back, 
one  hundred  years  before  Abraham,  for  practical  in- 
formation necessary  to  the  movements  of  the  army  of 
to-day. 

Sunday,  January  SO 

After  church  called  with  Barnard  on  General  Stone, 
who  told  me  there  are  about  140,000  Egyptian  children 
in  schools  not  counting  the  military  establishments. 
This  is  out  of  a  population  of  a  little  over  5,000,000. 
General  Stone  gave  Barnard  a  holiday  for  to-morrow 
that  he  might  go  with  me  and  see  the  pyramids.  Dined 
this  evening  with  Barnard. 

Monday,  January  31 

Early  breakfast.  Left  hotel  at  eight  o'clock  calling  for 
Barnard  on  the  way.  Beautiful  morning.  We  passed 
some  of  the  numerous  palaces  of  the  Khedive.  What  is 
very  curious  is  that  the  Khedive  builds  his  new  palaces 
very  near  his  old  ones.  He  must  be  building  them  with 


THE  PYRAMIDS  227 

an  idea  of  giving  employment,  like  Mill's  illustration  of 
breaking  panes  of  glass  to  keep  the  glaziers  busy.  The 
approach  to  the  pyramids  is  now  over  a  straight  car- 
riage road,  bordered  with  trees.  I  was  not  disappointed 
even  on  first  sight,  as  many  are  said  to  be,  for  the  pyra- 
mids seemed  colossal  from  the  most  distant  view  to  the 
nearest. 

Went  up  to  the  top  and  inside  the  King's  and  Queen's 
chambers.  It  was  very  annoying  not  to  be  left  alone. 
The  natives  were  chattering,  quarreling,  and  trying  to 
prove  that  we  could  not  mount  the  pyramids  without 
their  assistance,  and,  with  attempts  at  pushing  and 
trying  to  get  rid  of  them,  it  took  away  much  of  the 
pleasure  and  romance.  WTien  inside  the  chambers, 
which  are  only  reached  by  a  long,  low  tunnel  through 
which  we  had  to  crouch  and  almost  crawl,  a  crowd  of 
these  fellows  came  about  us  and  began  shouting  for 
baksheesh,  gesticulating  and  evidently  trying  to  frighten 
us.  We  kept,  however,  placid,  smiling  countenances  and 
did  not  yield  a  penny. 

One  of  the  best-looking  of  these  Arabs  took  our  side 
and  quieted  the  others.  He  was  a  fine,  strong  fellow, 
with  beautiful,  well-shaped  muscles.  After  coming  out 
I  tried  some  feats  of  strength  with  him.  He  is  said  to  be 
the  strongest  man  hereabouts.  He  looked  far  stronger 
than  I,  but  I  found  my  grip  was  stronger  than  his.  In 
trying  to  bend  each  other's  arms  we  came  out  about  even. 
We  put  up  the  same  size  stone,  though  he  may  have 
done  it  a  little  better  than  I,  and  he  held  out  a  stone 
horizontally  longer  than  I  could.  I  out  jumped  him  on 
running  long  jump  by  about  three  feet,  though  he  was 
barefooted  and  I  had  on  thick  shoes,  both  of  us  jumping 
on  the  sand.  He  works  his  farm  every  morning  and 
lifts  people  up  and  down  the  pyramids  every  day,  so  he 


228    HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

is  in  better  training  than  I.  It  was  strange  to  have  such 
friendly,  almost  fellow-college-student  dealings  with 
this  Arab  so  far  from  my  home  and  so  separated  by  race 
and  education. 

Mr.  Piazzi  Smyth  has  some  theories  that  the  Great 
Pyramid  is  an  observatory  as  the  opening  points  to  the 
North  Star,  and  that  the  sarcophagi  are  units  of  meas- 
urement, cubic,  square,  and  linear;  but  as  all  the  pyra- 
mids in  Egypt,  and  there  are  many  of  them,  are  in 
burying  grounds  and  have  sarcophagi  of  varying  size 
and  some  of  them  with  mummies  found  inside  and  with 
inscriptions  relating  to  the  dead,  Smyth's  theories 
seemed  to  us  absurd.  Back  in  time  for  dinner. 

Tuesday,  February  1 

A  SIX-THIRTY  o'clock  breakfast.  Left  the  hotel  soon 
after  seven  and  rode,  I  on  one  donkey  and  the  donkey 
boy  on  the  other,  carrying  luncheon  and  crossing  the 
river  to  the  railway  station  at  Gizeh  on  our  way  south 
to  Sakkarah.  I  had  engaged  the  donkey  boy  on  the 
understanding  that  he  could  speak  English.  "Oh,  yes," 
he  said,  "I  speak  English."  I  asked  him  about  one  of 
the  palaces.  "Is  that  the  palace  of  X.  Pasha?"  "Oh, 
yes,"  said  he.  Then  later  I  asked,  "That  must  have 
been  after  all  the  palace  of  Y.  Pasha."  "Oh,  yes,"  said 
he.  "Then  why  did  you  say  it  was  the  palace  of 
X.  Pasha?"  "Oh,  yes,"  said  he.  "Then,"  said  I,  "you 
were  a  humbug."  "Oh,  yes."  "  And  you  lied  about  that 
palace?"  "Oh,  yes,"  he  answered.  However,  I  found 
he  knew  a  few  French  words,  and  what  with  gestures, 
French,  signs,  and  pointing  we  got  on  pretty  well. 

Sakkarah  is  the  necropolis  of  ancient  Memphis.  At 
Gizeh,  just  across  the  river,  we  put  the  donkeys  aboard 
the  train  and  left  at  eight  for  the  first  station  to  the 


EGYPTIAN  WOMEN  229 

south,  Bedrashen.  We  passed  through  large  groves  or 
almost  forests  planted  by  the  Government.  So  many 
trees  have  been  planted  by  the  Khedive  that  it  is  thought 
here  they  make  the  climate  more  variable.  At  Bedras- 
hen we  got  on  our  donkeys  again  and  skirted  the  mud 
village.  We  met  great  numbers  of  peasants  going  to 
market,  as  it  was  market-day  at  Gizeh.  The  dress  of  the 
women  was  very  graceful.  It  consisted  of  one  loose 
tunic  coming  down  to  the  ankles  and  buttoning  round 
the  neck,  but  opening  in  a  narrow  slit  over  the  breast. 
There  was  a  cover  to  the  head  of  the  same  color,  a  dark 
blue,  nearly  black,  coming  down  to  the  eyes.  The 
dresses,  as  they  were  walking  against  the  wind,  shaped 
themselves  to  the  figures  and  fluttered  off  behind.  The 
erect,  slender  form,  the  bright  eyes,  long  lashes,  smooth 
complexion,  and  shining  teeth  were  combined  very 
artistically. 

We  saw  near  Mitrahenny  a  colossal  statue  which, 
though  having  lost  its  cap  and  all  below  its  ankles,  was 
still  about  thirty  feet  long.  It  was  made  of  one  piece  of 
stone  and  was  lying  in  an  excavation  at  an  odd  angle, 
in  about  one  half  foot  of  water.  Parts  were  still  beau- 
tifully polished.  It  had  on  its  breast  an  amulet  like  the 
Urim  and  Thummim  of  the  Hebrews  as  described  in 
Leviticus.  This  gave  me  pause.  How  much  of  the  divine 
order  to  Moses  about  the  priests'  garbs  may  have  been 
but  recurring  visions  of  what  he  saw  in  Egypt?  was  the 
question.  The  statue  had  a  scroll  in  its  hand  with  a 
name.  We  then  climbed  up  the  edge  of  the  desert  from 
the  low  river  bottom,  passing  many  excavations  of 
tombs  which  had  yielded  a  harvest  of  mummies,  but  the 
excavations  had  all  been  filled  with  sand  again. 

After  visiting  the  Great  Sakkarah  Pyramid,  we  re- 
turned, the  boy  and  I  riding  all  the  way  home  on  our 


230    HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

donkeys.  Going  through  a  village  which  I  believe  was 
AbookiiT,  crowds  of  angry  men  followed  us,  waving 
sticks  over  and  near  our  heads,  shouting  and  pressing 
against  our  donkeys.  I  kept  the  same  placid,  smiling 
self-assurance  of  face  that  had  worked  so  well  inside  the 
pyramids  and  unconcernedly  moved  safely  along.  When 
we  got  out  of  the  village  the  best  explanation  that  I 
could  get  from  the  donkey  boy  was  that  some  English- 
men had  got  into  trouble  in  the  village  not  long  ago  such 
as  had  aroused  hostility  to  foreigners  in  general. 

Between  this  village  and  Gizeh  we  were  riding  over  a 
mere  donkey  path  in  among  sand  hills  when  suddenly 
there  appeared  a  very  well  and  expensively  dressed  Arab 
woman  who  was  extraordinarily  beautiful,  young  and 
plump,  carrying  a  baby.  She  wore  a  necklace  of  gold 
coins  which  came  down  to  her  breast,  and  had  gold  ear- 
rings. She  had  none  of  the  dust  of  the  desert,  and  was 
as  neat  as  if  just  stepping  out  of  a  house  in,  let  us  say. 
Chestnut  Street,  Boston.  She  had  very  handsome  eyes. 
She  was  no  darker  than  a  Spaniard,  and  seemed  to  be 
of  a  superior  class  to  any  of  the  common  women  I  had 
seen  about  Egypt.  She  came  close  to  us  and  begged  for 
money.  I  gave  her  a  few  sous  and  she  still  kept  on  for 
quite  a  distance.  I  rather  imagined  that  it  was  a  trap 
set  by  some  wily  Arabs  who  were  hiding  behind  the  hil- 
locks, but  there  was  no  house  or  even  mud  hut  in  sight. 

After  reaching  the  hotel  in  the  end  of  the  afternoon 
I  met  the  Reverend  M.  Warwick,  one  of  the  Cowley 
Fathers  at  Oxford,  on  his  way  to  India.  We  had  several 
long  talks,  mostly  on  philosophy,  politics,  and  religion. 
He  remembered  seeing  my  father  at  Oxford. 

Had  a  call  to-day  from  Major-General  Stanton, 
English  Consul-General. 


DISRAELI  AND  THE  SUEZ  CANAL  231 

Thursday,  February  3 

In  the  afternoon  returned  General  Stanton's  call,  but  he 
was  out,  and  later  in  the  day  got  a  note  of  invitation 
from  him  to  dine  on  Saturday,  the  5th. 

Saturday,  February  5 

In  the  evening  dined  with  General  Stanton  at  the  Brit- 
ish Embassy,  He  has  the  title  of  consul-general  instead 
of  ambassador  in  deference  to  the  Sultan  of  Turkey,  who 
is  the  nominal  ruler  of  Egypt.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the 
Khedive,  Ismail  Pasha,  is  practically  independent  ex- 
cepting that  he  pays  a  tribute  of  about  $2,500,000  a 
year,  I  believe  it  is,  and,  that  being  paid,  rules  as  he 
pleases  and  can  even  float  Egyptian  bonds  without  the 
approval  of  the  Sultan.  General  Stanton  had  recently 
come  into  great  prominence  in  connection  with  the 
purchase  by  the  British  Government  of  the  Khedive's 
176,000  shares  of  the  Suez  Canal.  This  was  the  great 
coup  of  the  Disraeli  Government  which  saved  it  from  the 
mediocrity  into  which  it  had  fallen  in  the  last  two  years. 
The  purchase  was  made  in  the  end  of  last  November  and 
Stanton  was  the  go-between  in  this  delicate  transaction. 
(Some  years  later  it  transpired  that  neither  Stanton  nor 
Earl  Derby  nor  Disraeli,  the  Prime  Minister,  deserved 
much  credit  for  the  idea.  The  news  that  the  Khedive 
was  planning  to  sell  his  shares  to  the  French  was  dis- 
covered by  Mr.  Frederick  Greenwood,  editor  of  the 
"Pall  Mall  Gazette."  He  took  the  news  to  Lord  Derby, 
who  would  not  believe  it,  giving  as  his  reason  that 
Stanton  had  never  spoken  of  it  and  would  have  done  so 
if  the  shares  were  being  sold.  Inquiry  was  made,  how- 
ever, through  Stanton,  who  found  out  that  the  rumor 
was  true.  At  first  neither  Derby  nor  Disraeli  took  any 
interest  in  the  subject,  but  at  last  they  were  strongly 


232    HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

urged  by  Greenwood  and  some  influential  members  of 
Parliament  and  adopted  the  scheme  which  so  redounded 
to  their  glory.) 

At  dinner  were  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stevenson,  two  young 
English  lords,  and  the  secretary  to  Mr.  Cave.  Mr. 
Stevenson  told  me  he  was  at  the  head  of  Lloyd's  Insur- 
ance in  London,  and  that  with  them  the  decisions  of  our 
Judge  Joseph  Story  on  insurance  were  considered  bet- 
ter than  any  of  the  English  decisions.  Indeed,  Judge 
Story's  decisions  about  partnerships  as  well  as  insur- 
ance were  adopted  as  English  law,  though  when  first 
made  they  were  contrary  to  it. 

This  was  one  of  the  rather  formal,  dull  occasions, 
with  no  bright  conversation,  no  humor  or  wit,  no  secrets 
told,  no  topics  discussed,  though  I  was  pleased  to  see 
Stanton,  who  is  a  faithful  diplomatic  public  servant  in  a 
high  and  important  position. 

Sunday,  February  6 

In  the  afternoon  called  on  the  Stantons  and  Stones.  Mrs. 
Stone  said  she  had  visited  the  Khedive's  harem,  that 
the  women  were  handsome,  that  there  was  much  done 
to  amuse  them,  but  not  much  to  instruct,  though  a  few 
of  them  were  fairly  intelligent. 

After  dinner,  or  about  eight-thirty  in  the  evening, 
Barnard  and  I  started  off  on  a  donkey  each  with  a 
donkey  boy  behind,  to  spend  the  night  at  the  pyramids. 
As  we  were  entertained  by  an  Arab  for  breakfast,  and 
got  some  idea  of  Egyptian  justice  or  rather  injustice, 
and  had  an  exciting  night,  I  give  the  details  of  this  trip. 
We  carried  two  blankets  each  and  had  on  thick  clothing. 
\Ye  rode  through  Cairo  at  a  slow  trot,  crossed  the  Nile 
by  the  new  iron  bridge,  and  skirting  the  village  of 
Gizeh,  struck  across  the  low  plain  between  the  river  and 


THE  PYRAMIDS  AT  NIGHT  233 

the  desert.  There  was  a  mist  over  this  fertile  land  and 
we  could  not  see  far  horizontally,  but  above,  the  sky  was 
blue,  a  few  stars  were  shining  clearly,  and  a  clear-cut, 
brilliant  moon  followed  us  along  almost  directly  over- 
head. Neither  of  us  spoke.  A  jackal  crossed  the  road, 
howling,  whining,  or  barking  all  the  time.  Suddenly  we 
began  to  make  out  the  pyramids  through  the  mist. 
They  loomed  up  enormously,  and  again  we  saw  their 
reflection  in  the  water  of  the  canal  on  the  left  of  the  road. 
I  thought  of  the  inscription  on  the  tomb  of  Tih  which 
lets  us  know  that  the  Egyptians  called  their  houses 
"hostelries,"  but  their  tombs  their  "eternal  dwelling- 
places."  It  seems  sad  that,  with  all  the  care  these 
builders  took,  their  bodies  should  have  been  carried 
away  so  long  ago  that  even  in  the  ninth  century  the 
desecration  was  forgotten  and  no  one  then  even  knew 
where  the  opening  was.  But  sadder  than  all  is  it  that 
now  every  rude  and  thoughtless  traveler  may  enter  and 
disturb  and  drive  away,  by  laughs  and  jests,  by  candles 
and  magnesium  lights,  the  spirit  that  haunts  the  cham- 
bers. The  poor  homeless  ghost!  But  the  body  is  not, 
like  some  of  its  fellows,  to  be  preserved  in  a  museum  to 
be  measured,  weighed,  stared  at  or  jested  about,  but 
yet,  though  saved  this  misery,  how  vain  was  the  hope  of 
an  *' eternal  home"  in  "houses  built  with  hands"! 

We  hoped  at  that  hour  of  the  night  to  be  preserved 
from  the  troublesome  Arabs,  but  unfortunately  some 
had  been  following  a  carriage  on  its  return  to  Cairo  and 
saw  us  and  insisted  upon  staymg  in  our  immediate 
neighborhood. 

On  the  desert  heights  the  air  was  clear  and  warmer 
than  below,  and  about  eleven  o'clock  we  lay  down  to 
sleep,  wrapped  in  our  blankets,  and  a  few  Arabs  who 
wished  to  "guard  us"  crouched  near  by,  in  the  very 


234     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

shadow  of  the  Sphinx.  Before  lying  down  the  Arabs 
had  asked  us  to  shoot  at  a  jackaL  I  suspected  that  it 
was  a  trick  to  see  if  we  were  armed,  but  we  repHed  that 
we  did  not  care  to  kill  a  harmless  animal.  Whenever 
awake  I  heard  the  dogs  in  the  neighboring  village  bark- 
ing. I  noticed  the  blueness  of  the  Egyptian  sky  at  this 
late  hour  of  night.  I  remembered  having  seen  a  picture 
in  the  Paris  Louvre  or  Luxembourg  —  I  forget  which  — 
giving  an  Egyptian  night  scene  with  the  sky  blue.  It 
seemed  unnatural  then,  but  now  I  see  that  the  artist  was 
true  to  Nature's  night  sky  in  Egypt. 

We  slept  well  in  the  sweet  desert  air  and  on  the  soft 
sand.  Waking  up,  however,  about  four  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  when  the  moon  had  set  and  morning  twilight 
had  not  yet  come,  I  saw  an  Arab  slowly  stealing  toward 
Barnard  and  carefully  lifting  the  corner  of  the  blanket 
till  he  had  uncovered  the  coat  pocket.  From  his  actions 
he  seemed  to  be  in  search  of  money.  I  then  spoke 
sharply  to  the  Arab  and  waked  up  Barnard.  The  Arab 
pretended  that  he  had  only  been  "  tucking"  Barnard  in. 
After  that  we  sat  watch  and  watch  the  rest  of  the  night. 
Strange  to  say,  we  were  very  much  bitten  by  fleas. 
Wliat  they  can  find  to  sustain  life  on  in  this  barren  sand, 
I  do  not  know.  However,  I  am  satisfied  that  the  nour- 
ishment there  cannot  be  very  abundant,  for  they  all  had 
voracious  appetites. 

Monday^  February  7 

The  moon  had  set  behind  a  few  light  clouds.  Toward 
six  it  was  my  watch  and  I  was  trying  to  make  out  the 
features  of  the  Sphinx.  Suddenly  I  saw  it  lighted  up  by 
the  first  rays  of  the  morning  twilight  that  came  with  the 
quickness  of  a  flash.  We  climbed  the  Great  Pyramid, 
getting  to  the  top  a  half -hour  before  the  sun  rose.  We 


BREAKFAST  WITH  AN  ARAB  235 

saw  the  gray  and  pink  tints  and  then  the  beautiful 
warm  colors  which,  later  still,  faded  into  "the  common 
light  of  day." 

We  came  down  and  breakfasted  in  the  house,  or  rather 
hut,  of  one  of  the  Arabs.  He  seemed  much  pleased  that 
we  accepted  his  invitation.  We  found  on  crawling  on 
our  hands  and  knees  into  his  one-story  stone  and  mud 
plaster  hut  that  a  carpet  was  spread  before  us.  It  was 
woven  in  long  strips  of  black  and  red  and  was  thick  and 
strong.  We  made  some  pretense  at  trying  to  take  off 
our  shoes,  but  our  host  would  not  allow  that.  At  the 
door  we  met  his  wife,  who  shook  hands  with  us  and  then 
kissed  her  own  hand,  put  it  to  her  head  and  bowed. 
We  were  immediately  in  the  principal  room.  Our  host 
told  us  his  house  was  not  finished.  The  roof  was  only 
cornstalks  laid  over  palm-tree  poles  and  not  woven.  It 
keeps  off  the  sun,  while  rain  they  never  have.  The 
cooking  was  done  out  of  doors.  Mahomet,  our  host,  in- 
vited in  some  friends  and  showed  us  his  two  sons  while 
his  wife  was  getting  breakfast  ready.  We  sat  down  on 
the  carpets  with  crossed  legs,  for  there  were  no  chairs. 

Mahomet  said  he  was  going  to  send  his  oldest  son, 
Solomon,  to  school  and  then  make  him  a  soldier.  None 
of  these  Arabs  can  read,  not  even  the  chief.  We  asked 
after  Mahajob,  the  strong  man  who  had  befriended  us 
before,  and  for  Sardi,  a  bright  little  boy  of  about  four- 
teen. They  told  us  that  Sardi's  sister  had  died  since  we 
had  been  there.  However,  both  Sardi  and  Mahajob 
came  in  to  see  us.  Breakfast  was  soon  brought  in  in  a 
shallow  basket.  We  had  boiled  ducks'  eggs  with  salt  and 
pepper,  goat's  milk,  some  Arabian  bread,  rather  coarse 
and  made  with  the  bran  in  round,  flat  loaves,  and  some 
white,  saltless  butter  or  buttery  cheese.  We  were  sup- 
plied with  about  four  times  as  much  as  we  could  eat,  but 


236    HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

we  relished  the  food  we  took.  Black  and  very  good 
coffee  was  brought  in  to  us  and  poured  from  a  silver 
coffee-pot  into  pretty  little  china  cups.  Such  refine- 
ment seemed  strange  to  see  in  a  mud  hut.  But  our  host 
explained  that  they  had  to  build  small  houses  so  as  to 
appear  poorer  than  they  were,  as  under  the  pretense  of 
back  taxes  the  chief  would  take  anything  of  value  he 
could  lay  hands  on. 

An  Egyptian  buffalo  or  ox  kept  looking  in  at  the  door 
as  we  were  eating.  The  dogs  were  numerous  and  barked 
a  great  deal.  They  lived  on  the  tops  of  the  houses  and 
came  down  only  for  foraging  excursions. 

Our  host  was  very  polite  and  attentive  to  our  words 
and  wants,  and  we  gave  him  a  present  of  money,  which 
he  readily  accepted.  He  urged  us  not  to  pay  the  chiefs 
the  usual  two-shilling  charge  at  the  top  of  the  pyramid. 
He  said  it  was  an  imposition  they  had  no  right  to  place 
on  us,  and  he  wanted  us  not  to  pay,  saying  he  would 
go  to  Cairo  with  us  and  see  General  Stanton  and  the 
Khedive  about  it,  and  got  quite  excited.  However,  we 
did  pay  the  two  shillings  and  hoped  our  friend  got  into 
no  difficulty  from  the  sheikh  or  chief,  who  is  judge,  jury, 
and  jailer,  and  from  whose  decisions  there  is  no  appeal 
for  a  poor  man.  The  sheikhs  are  quite  independent  of 
the  people,  for  they  are  selected  for  life.  General  Stone 
confirmed  this  and  said  that  the  Egyptian  courts  were 
corrupt  and  the  decisions  usually  obtained  by  bribery, 
and  that  there  was  no  justice  at  all  for  the  lower  classes. 
These  had  to  protect  themselves  as  best  they  could  by 
hiding  their  money  and  valuable  chattels.  (This  is  a 
great  contrast  to  the  present  absolute  justice  in  the 
courts  in  Egypt  under  the  British  occupation.) 


CHAPTER  XV 

ROME  (VIA  NAPLES)— AMERICAN  AND  ENGLISH 
AMBASSADORS 

Tuesday,  February  8 

Took  the  steamer  Ehre  of  the  Messagerie  Line  for 
Naples.  On  board  I  saw  a  good  deal  of  the  Reverend  C. 
Haggard,  of  England,  and  a  little  of  Mr.  Ashbury,  the 
former  owner  of  the  yacht  Cambria  which  beat  the 
American  schooner  on  the  great  race  across  the  ocean. 

Saturday,  February  12 

Naples  did  not  prove  very  hospitable. 

Passed  the  volcano  Stromboli,  w^hich  was  long  in 
sight,  rising  straight  out  of  the  water.  About  eight  in 
the  evening  we  passed  the  island  of  Capri.  Vesuvius 
was  under  a  heavy  cloud.  While  coming  to  anchor,  the 
moon  rose  behind  Vesuvius  so  that  we  saw  it  below  the 
smoke  which  rested  horizontally,  stretching  toward  the 
south  and  above  the  mountain.  When  the  moon  was 
behind  the  cloud  the  effect  was  beautiful,  indeed.  On 
coming  into  Naples  it  seemed  like  turning  toward  home 
and,  with  the  cold,  snow-touched  wind  in  my  face,  while 
alone  on  the  upper  deck,  I  burst  out  smging,  "Oh,  Carry 
Me  Back  to  Old  Virginny." 

I  secured  a  good  ^pension  on  the  Chiaia,  the  best  part 
of  Naples,  for  ten  francs  a  day,  all  included.  There  was 
a  cheaper  one  for  eight.  At  Naples  I  saw  the  usual 
sights,  climbed  Vesuvius  which  was  in  partial  eruption, 
visited  Pompeii,  Capri,  Baiae,  Virgil's  tomb,  where  I 
quoted  line  after  line  of  hexameters,  and  made  other  ex- 
peditions. I  met,  too,  many  pleasant  English  and  Amer- 


238     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

icans,  but  there  was  little  out  of  the  way  to  mention  ex- 
cepting that  I  called  on  Baron  Haoverman,  who  lived  at 
the  Castel  Nuovo,  a  brother-in-law  of  the  Vicomtesse 
de  Perusse,  to  whom  she  had  given  me  a  cordial 
letter  of  introduction.  He  was  out  and  in  five  days  re- 
turned the  call  and  we  had  a  pleasant  talk,  but  he  gave 
no  other  recognition  of  the  letter  and  never  even  took 
me  inside  of  his  house.  They  told  me  many  of  the 
Neapolitan  nobility  were  both  poor  and  proud.  They 
could  not  afford  to  entertain,  and  it  was  only  by  painful 
deprivation  at  home  that  they  could  keep  a  carriage 
and  horses  for  outside  show,  a  thing  which  they  felt 
essential  for  their  station  in  life.  Not  only  the  nobles 
but  the  people  generally  seem  to  be  poor.  There  are  no 
industries  giving  employment,  no  saved-up  capital  with 
w^hich  to  start  business.  The  hotels  are  run  mostly  by 
Swiss,  and  the  other  common  business  of  selling  tor- 
toise-shell articles,  corals,  etc.,  to  strangers  is  of  rather  a 
parasitic  kind,  and  over  all  is  the  reign  of  terror  from  the 
secret  societies. 

Tuesday,  February  22 

To-day  I  passed  King  Victor  Emmanuel  and  the  Queen, 
each  in  a  separate  carriage,  on  their  way  toward  Naples. 
I  cannot  leave  Naples  without  paying  a  tribute  to  it. 
There  is  the  beautiful  blue  water  of  the  bay  with  Capri 
and  Sorrento  in  the  distance,  sometimes  purple  and 
sometimes  azure,  Vesuvius  smoking  at  the  left  and  a 
background  of  hills  with  villas,  churches,  monasteries 
and  vineyards,  altogether  a  scene  of  rich  harmonies  of 
color  and  form  that  will  linger  in  the  mind  among  its 
sweetest  visions.  Every  little  cab  has  its  horse  decorated 
with  spangles  and  colored  tassels.  The  sharp  cracking 
of  the  whips,  the  men  and  boys  sunnmg  themselves  in 


SEEING  ROME  239 

picturesque  attitudes  as  if  taking  part  in  an  opera,  and 
the  women  strolling  about  with  their  pretty  headdresses 
and  aprons,  give  altogether  an  air  of  ease,  gayety,  and 
careless  happiness  which  pervades  the  place. 

Saturday,  February  26 

Left  Naples  for  Rome.  For  the  first  eight  days  or  so 
devoted  myself  almost  wholly  to  seeing  the  wonderful 
sights  in  this  ancient  city,  not  delivering  my  letters  or 
seeing  English  or  American  friends,  as,  when  once  in  the 
maelstrom  of  society  in  Rome,  one  has  hardly  time  for 
anything  else. 

Monday,  March  6 

Delivered  letters  of  introduction  to  George  P.  ^larsh, 
the  American  Minister,  from  my  father  and  to  Sir  Augus- 
tus Paget,  the  English  Ambassador,  from  Lord  Tenter- 
den.  I  am  paying  eight  francs  a  day  for  my  pension, 
including  wine  and  everything  but  candles. 

Saturday,  March  11 

Suddenly  cleared  up  at  half-past  eleven  at  night. 
Donned  thick  overcoat  and  scarf  and  strolled  down  the 
Corso  and  stopped  at  Trajan's  Forum  for  a  few  mo- 
ments. \Miile  on  the  Via  Alessandrina  I  saw  two  hearses 
on  their  nightly  duties,  and  as  they  crossed  each  other 
the  drivers  gave  a  lively  whistle  of  recognition.  One  of 
the  hearses  stopped  in  front  of  me,  so  I  stepped  aside  in 
the  shadow  of  a  wall  and  waited  to  see  what  would  fol- 
low. A  man  got  off  the  box  next  the  driver  and  entered 
the  house  close  by.  The  door  was  immediately  opened 
for  him.  Not  long  after  I  heard  a  shaking  of  a  cloth,  and 
on  glancing  overhead  I  saw  a  black  pall  drawn  quickly 
back  from  the  window,  just  under  the  eaves.    Soon 


240     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

after  a,  man  and  woman  walked  up  to  the  hearse,  not 
coming  from  the  house,  but  from  a  cross-street. 

Then  the  door  of  the  house  opened  again  and  the  man 
who  had  gone  up  appeared  carrying  a  long  white  pine 
box  with  a  large  black  cross  painted  on  the  top.  The 
stranger  who  had  come  up  with  a  lady  on  his  arm  helped 
to  put  this  box  in  the  hearse,  where  it  made  the  sixth 
with  five  others  like  itself.  Each  coffin  had  a  crayon 
number  hastily  written  on  one  end.  The  stranger  who 
had  come  up  seemed  to  be  known  by  the  man  at  the 
hearse.  The  only  other  person  attending  to  what  was 
going  on  put  his  or  her  head  out  of  the  upper  window, 
from  which  the  pall  had  been  shaken.  The  hearse  was 
quickly  shut,  the  man  mounted  beside  the  driver,  and 
off  they  went,  dead  and  living,  at  a  brisk  trot,  the  four 
lanterns  at  the  corners  of  the  hearse  marking  its  way 
down  the  street  until  it  turned  off,  and  the  lady  and 
gentleman  who  had  mysteriously  appeared  from  a 
cross-street  disappeared  quite  as  mysteriously.  There 
was  no  prayer  and  no  priest.  Perhaps  the  body  was 
merely  being  carried  to  a  dead  house  to  await  a  funeral 
or  perhaps  it  was  the  body  of  a  stranger.  The  Italians' 
fear  of  death  and  contagion  is  so  great  that  it  is  said 
they  dispose  of  a  stranger  in  a  few  hours  after  death  and 
with  little  or  no  ceremony. 

Walked  on  in  the  moonlight,  passed  the  Basilica  of 
Constantine  with  its  ponderous  arches,  which  gave  the 
model  of  those  of  St.  Peter's,  and  under  the  Arch  of 
Titus,  with  the  bas-relief,  including  the  seven-branched 
candlestick,  borne  in  his  triumph  from  Jerusalem.  The 
moon  was  one  day  past  the  full  and  there  was  an  occa- 
sional cloud  passing  under  it.  Shadows  below  the  arches 
of  the  Colosseum  were  dark  and  gloomy,  but  the  in- 
side of  that  great  amphitheatre  was  flooded  with  light. 


DINNER  WITH  THE  BRITISH  AMBASSADOR     241 

There  were  two  parties  wandering  in  and  out,  each  with 
its  torch  flickering  and  looking  to  me  more  hke  spirits 
coming  back  to  find  something  lost  centuries  ago. 

i  wandered  next  through  the  Forum  and  back  under 
the  Capitoline  Hill,  past  the  Arch  of  Septimus  Severus, 
through  the  Via  Bonella,  and  got  to  bed  soon  after  two. 

Sunday,  March  12 

Went  to  the  American  church  and  to  the  second  serv- 
ice in  the  English  church.  In  the  evening  I  dined  with 
Mrs.  Dorr,  of  Boston,  "very  informally"  as  by  invita- 
tion. Miss  TroUope,  a  niece  of  Anthony  Trollope,  and 
Baroness  Hoffmann,  nee  Lily  Ward,  were  the  guests. 

Tuesday,  March  14 

At  eight  o'clock  I  dined  with  Sir  Augustus  Paget, 
K.C.B.,  the  British  Ambassador.  Lady  Paget  is  a 
German,  Countess  Hohenthal,  and  is  very  handsome 
and  agreeable.  She  has  two  young  children  and  is  lady 
of  honor  to  the  CrowTi  Princess  of  Prussia.  At  table 
were  Mr.  Wurts,  the  American  Secretary  of  Legation, 
Colonel  Dalton  and  daughter,  a  young  ^Ir.  Wilson,  Lady 
Paget's  niece,  and  the  German  secretary.  Strawberries 
for  dinner!  Sir  Augustus  said  that  the  Italian  Parlia- 
ment trifle  with  their  work,  that  they  do  not  take  up 
serious  questions,  and  that  they  broke  up  or  tried  to 
break  up  the  Ministry  out  of  mere  spite  or  petty 
jealousy,  and  the  result  is  that  no  one  who  is  capable  is 
willing  to  take  the  responsibility  of  the  Government. 
Paget  is  about  fifty-three  years  of  age  and  his  wife 
thirty-seven.  He  has  had  a  long  and  honorable  career 
in  the  diplomatic  service,  having  been  in  Paris,  Athens, 
Egypt,  The  Hague,  Lisbon,  Saxony,  Sweden,  Norway, 
and  Denmark.    He  was  the  grandson  of  the  Earl  of 


242     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

Westmoreland.  (Later  Sir  Augustus  was  transferred  as 
Ambassador  to  Austria  and  died  in  1896.) 

There  was  some  little  talk  of  the  question  of  prece- 
dence. It  appears  that  a  claim  had  been  made  —  I 
could  not  make  out  by  whom,  perhaps  it  was  a  wholly 
theoretical  question  —  that  an  imperial  princess  should 
go  ahead  of  the  daughter  of  the  Queen  on  the  ground 
that  "emperor"  was  a  higher  title  than  that  of  "king." 
Instance  was  made  of  the  Duchess  of  Edinburgh.  The 
Duke  of  Edinburgh  is  the  second  son  of  Queen  Victoria 
and  married  about  two  years  ago  Her  Imperial  High- 
ness, the  Grand  Duchess  Marie  Alexandrovna,  only 
daughter  of  the  Emperor  of  Russia.  I  did  n't  under- 
stand that  there  has  been  any  actual  dispute,  but  the 
question  was  an  interesting  one  and  might  become  im- 
portant. 

Wednesday,  March  15 

Immediately  after  lunch  went  to  the  Italian  Parlia- 
ment. We  had  very  good  seats  in  the  gallery  and  from 
there  could  see  the  whole  house.  The  members  sit  in 
armchairs  which  are  all  arranged  in  semi-circular  rows, 
the  rows  being  raised  as  they  recede  from  the  centre  as 
in  a  theatre.  Before  each  member  is  a  little  folding  desk 
which  discloses  an  inkstand,  three  or  four  small  per- 
pendicular pigeon-holes  for  papers,  and  makes  a  com- 
fortable-sized writing-table  when  unfolded.  Beneath 
this  is  a  small  cupboard  for  holding  blank  paper.  There 
are  in  all  seats  for  about  480  or  490  members.  Before 
the  front  row  of  seats  is  a  large,  curved  table  for  the 
Opposition  bench.  The  Government  Cabinet  members 
sit  at  a  long  table  under  a  raised  platform  on  which  are, 
first,  the  voting  urns,  then  the  passage  for  the  members 
to  pass  when  depositing  their  votes,  and  above  that 


THE  ITALIAN  PARLIAMENT  243 

the  Speaker's  (to  use  the  American  term)  or  Presi- 
dent's chair.  Between  the  Opposition  and  Government 
benches  is  a  flat  space  with  a  small  table  at  which  short- 
hand reporters  sit  and  take  down  all  that  is  said. 

When  we  came  in  the  members  were  voting.  There 
were  three  urns  and  each  member  was  given  or  got  for 
himself  three  slips  of  paper,  one  green,  one  red,  and  the 
third  white,  and  wrote  something  on  them  and  then 
deposited  one  in  each  of  the  urns,  marked  with  the  cor- 
responding colors,  the  green  paper  into  the  green  urn, 
etc.  As  they  passed  in  front  of  the  President,  before 
voting,  the  name  of  each  member  was  marked  off  the 
list.  The  man  keeping  this  list  seemed  to  be  a  member, 
for  he  voted  himself.  There  was  a  small  attendance 
only.  At  3  p.m.,  two  hours  after  the  nominal  opening, 
there  were  but  105  members  present.  There  is  no 
rostrum  as  in  France,  but  each  member  speaks  from  his 
place  and  gets  the  floor,  as  with  us  and  in  England,  by 
attracting  the  President's  eye.  Members  do  not  wear 
their  hats  as  in  England  nor  was  there  any  crying  out, 
but  all  was  quiet  and  orderly  —  a  perfection  of  an  as- 
sembly in  outward  appearance. 

At  half -past  five  went  to  Mr.  Wurts's  reception.  His 
rooms  were  very  tasteful,  and  many  diplomats  and 
distinguished  strangers  in  Rome  were  present. 

Friday,  March  17 

After  lunch  I  went  to  Mrs.  W.  W.  Story's  reception, 
where  I  was  introduced  to  Mrs.  Terry,  the  remarried 
widow  of  Crawford,  the  sculptor,  and  mother  of  my 
St.  Paul's  schoolmate,  Marion  Crawford  (who  later 
became  celebrated  as  an  author),  and  also  a  young 
English  lady  named  Miss  Bailey.  During  the  evening 
I  went  to  Mrs.  George  P.  Marsh's  reception  for  for- 


244     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

eigners,  hoping  especially  to  see  some  interesting  Ital- 
ians, but  got  put  off  on  some  English  young  ladies  for 
most  of  the  evening.  They  were  hard  to  entertain. 
Their  short,  crisp  "Yes"  and  "No"  were  like  so  many 
stumbling-blocks  to  conversation.  Mrs.  Marsh,  the 
wife  of  George  P.  Marsh,  the  American  Minister,  is  a 
dignified,  gracious,  accomplished,  and  fine  represent- 
ative of  the  best  Sort  of  American  lady. 

Sunday,  March  19 

Called  on  Lady  Paget,  who  received  Sunday  afternoon. 
A  number  of  people  present,  coming  in  and  going  out, 
making  their  formal  calls,  but  giving  very  little  oppor- 
tunity for  any  interesting  or  prolonged  conversation. 

Saturday,  March  25 

To-day  is  the  day  of  the  consecration  of  the  first  Prot- 
estant church  building  within  the  walls  of  Rome.  It  is 
the  Episcopal  Church  of  America.  I  arrived  at  ten- 
forty -five,  and  to  my  surprise  everything  was  in  order 
and  looking  nicely,  where  only  a  day  or  two  before  all 
was  confusion,  dust,  and  rubbish.  Great  bare  places 
on  the  walls,  to  be  filled  up  with  marbles  eventually, 
had  been  covered  with  tapestry,  flowers  had  been  put 
around,  and  carpets  laid  down,  and  all  was  orderly  and 
church-like. 

The  service  was  interesting,  of  course,  and  the  sing- 
ing good  and  effective.  The  sermon,  by  our  American 
Bishop  Littlejohn,  was  very  long  and  doctrinal  and  con- 
tained some  talk  of  the  advantages  of  national  divi- 
sions of  the  Church,  prophesying  separations  of  it  in  the 
English  possessions  of  India,  Africa,  and  Canada,  in 
the  same  way  that  the  American  Episcopal  Church  had 
separated  from  the  English  after  the  Revolution.    All 


CALL  ON  GEORGE  P.  MARSH  245 

this  must,  of  course,  have  been  very  pleasant  and  ac- 
ceptable to  the  English,  who  formed  a  large  part  of  the 
congregation.  Some  of  them  contributed  to  the  church 
and  there  were  three  English  bishops  and  several  Brit- 
ish clergymen  officiating.  The  sermon  was  eloquent  in 
passages,  and  had  it  been  shorter,  more  people  might 
have  been  left  to  put  something  into  the  offertory  when 
the  sermon  was  over.  The  second  service  ended  at 
half-past  two,  making  three  and  a  half  hours  of  con- 
tinuous attention,  or  inattention  I  fear  from  natural 
fatigue  of  mind. 

Sunday,  March  26 

Went  to  the  service  in  the  new  Episcopal  church.  The 
sermon  to-day  was  by  the  Bishop  of  Peterboro,  England. 
He  is  said  to  be  the  most  eloquent  preacher,  if  not  person, 
in  Great  Britain.  The  sermon  was  extemporaneous,  but 
there  was  never  the  least  fear  of  a  pause  or  misuse  of 
a  word.  It  was  a  logical,  connected  discourse,  very 
thoughtful  and  solid,  and  waxing  eloquent  in  places. 
The  words  were  always  well  chosen,  showing  careful 
scholarship  and  doubtless  frequent  practice  in  writing. 
Called  on  Mr.  Marsh,  our  American  Minister.  He 
said  he  was  ashamed  to  see  me  on  account  of  the  action 
of  the  United  States  Senate  Committee.  My  father  had 
been  nominated  by  General  Grant  as  Minister  to  Great 
Britain  and  the  Senate  Committee  had  reported  against 
confirmation.  Marsh  said  that  it  was  a  greater  dis- 
grace to  the  country  than  Belknap's  actions  for  which 
he  was  being  indicted.  Belknap  was  a  member  of 
Grant's  Cabinet.  His  actions,  Marsh  said,  were  those 
of  one  man  while  this  was  the  deliberate  action  of  sev- 
eral. He  hoped  that  if  my  father  was  not  confirmed  he 
would  be  made  President  of  the  United  States.  He  said 


246    HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

that  Van  Biiren  was  nominated  President  just  after 
being  rejected  by  the  Senate  for  the  same  office  and  to 
the  same  country. 

Mr.  Arthur  Dexter,  who  was  present,  told  me  that 
he  had  just  got  a  letter  from  General  McClellan  ad- 
vising him  not  to  go  back  to  a  country  whose  Senate 
Committee  reported  against  the  confirmation  of  such 
a  man  as  Mr.  Dana,  but  rather  to  stay  in  Europe  for 
the  rest  of  his  days  and  disclaim  America  altogether. 
Marsh  thought  that  this  was  a  question  of  senatorial 
courtesy.  President  Grant,  contrary  to  the  usual  cus- 
tom, nominated  my  father  without  consulting  the 
leading  Senators  of  his  party,  who  had  other  plans  for 
filling  the  mission  to  the  Court  of  St.  James,  includ- 
ing a  whole  set  of  changes,  one  of  which  was  getting 
Don  Cameron,  of  Pennsylvania,  into  the  United  States 
Senate. 

I  called  on  Lady  Paget  later  in  the  afternoon  to  bid 
her  good-bye.  She  was  fortunately  in  and  I  was  gra- 
ciously received  by  the  handsome  and  cheerful  ambas- 
sadress. We  had  a  chat  on  various  topics,  none  of  great 
importance,  but  all  very  agreeable.  I  came  away  with 
the  impression  of  having  had  a  delightful  call. 

In  this  account  of  my  visit  in  Rome  I  have  not  only 
omitted  almost  all  of  my  sight-seeing,  but  very  many 
delightful  social  events  with  English  and  American 
friends  and  acquaintances,  where  the  experience  was 
not  different  from  that  of  the  usual  social  life  in  that 
delightful  city. 


CHAPTER  XVI 
ENGLAND  AGAIN  VIA  TURIN  AND  PARIS 

Left  Rome  for  Florence,  Venice,  Milan,  and  Turin.  At 
Turin  I  saw  Professor  Danna  and  Count  Sclopis. 

Monday,  April  24.    Turin. 

Received  a  letter  from  our  Minister  in  Rome,  George 
P.  Marsh,  with  an  introduction  to  Professor  Danna, 
avvocato  of  Turin  and  also  a  professor  at  the  University. 
To  the  University  I  drove  to  get  Professor  Danna's  ad- 
dress and  then  left  my  card  and  letter  to  him  at  his 
house.  He  lived  au  quatrieme  next  to  the  top  story  in 
some  nice  apartments  in  the  Piazza  Maria  Teresa. 
The  stairway  belonging  to  the  whole  building  was 
rather  old  and  the  stone  steps  were  not  as  clean  as 
might  be,  but  that  is  not  uncommon  in  Europe  where 
the  stairs  correspond  almost  to  the  streets  with  us. 

After  dinner  Professor  Danna  called  on  me.  He  is  a 
tall,  wiry,  fine-looking  man,  with  gray  hair.  He  is  ear- 
nest, enthusiastic,  optimistic,  and  kindly.  There  was 
a  little  confusion  at  first  because  he  said  there  was  an- 
other Richard  Dana  traveling  in  Europe  who  had  left  a 
letter  on  him,  but  on  learning  that  I  was  my  father's 
son,  he  was  much  pleased.  He  said  that  Count  Sclopis 
had  expressed  a  wish  to  see  me  if  I  were  the  son  of  the 
man  who  had  written  the  notes  to  Wheaton's  Inter- 
national Law.  Count  Sclopis  was  one  of  the  judges  in 
the  Geneva  Arbitration  Case  between  the  United  States 
and  Great  Britain  that  decided  on  the  Alabama  claims. 
Professor  Danna  promised  to  call  for  me  next  morning 


248     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

to  take  me  to  see  the  University,  the  town,  and  Count 
Sclopis. 

Tuesday,  April  25 

Lunched  at  one  of  the  cafes  with  Professor  Danna  and 
we  then  went  to  the  University,  where  we  heard  a  lec- 
ture on  "The  Influence  of  the  Discovery  of  America 
on  European  History  and  PoHtical  Economy."  There 
were  about  two  hundred  persons  present  including  a 
number  of  ladies.     Professor  Danna  introduced  me  to 

several  people,  one  of  whom.  General ,  tried  to 

present  me  after  the  seance  to  the  grandson  of  Lafayette, 
who  had  sat  opposite  us  but  who  went  off  too  soon. 

After  a  cup  of  coff^ee  in  a  neighboring  cafe.  Professor 
Danna  took  me  to  see  Count  Sclopis.  The  Count  lives 
au  premier  above  some  shops,  and  the  general  staircase 
was  narrow  and  dark,  but  the  rooms  were  large  and 
comfortable  and  servants  in  livery  were  in  attendance. 
The  Count  appeared  glad  to  see  me  and  shook  me 
warmly  by  the  hand.  He  is  nearly  eighty  years  old  and 
has  a  large  frame.  His  hair  is  not  yet  gray,  and  he  is 
still  capable  of  work,  but  he  shows  some  signs  of  age.  I 
stayed  there  about  half  an  hour.  He  asked  me  about  my 
travels,  about  William  M.  Evarts  and  Charles  Francis 
Adams,  Sr.,  and  sent  a  message  of  regards  by  me  to 
Lord  Selborne.  In  the  course  of  the  conversation  he 
spoke  of  my  father's  notes  on  Wheaton's  International 
Law.  He  wanted  to  know  how  many  editions  of  them 
there  had  been,  but  I  could  not  tell  him.  He  spoke 
highly  of  them  and  said  that  they  had  been  of  great 
assistance  to  him.  He  wished  me  to  send  his  compli- 
ments to  my  father  when  I  wrote.  He  saw  me  to  the 
door  and  shook  hands  with  me  three  times  in  all. 

The  Italians  I  have  met  to-day  —  and  this  is,  with 


WALK  WITH  PROFESSOR  DANNA  AT  TURIN    249 

the  exception  of  the  "Baron"  at  Naples,  the  first  time 
I  have  met  any  eminent  ones  on  intimate  terms  — 
seemed  warm-hearted,  kindly,  and  simple;  something 
deeper  than  mere  good  manners.  An  Englishman  in 
Florence  who  knew  many  told  me  that  he  found  them 
on  long  acquaintance  to  be  sincere,  faithful,  and  friendly. 
The  Count  was  seated  in  a  comfortable  library,  fur- 
nished in  a  cozy  English  or  American  style. 

Professor  Danna  had  not  yet  asked  me  to  his  house. 
He  apologized,  however,  for  not  taking  me  there  to 
lunch. 

Wednesday,  April  26 

At  quarter  past  seven  in  the  morning  Professor  Danna 
and  I  started  out  again.  He  is  an  early  riser.  We  walked 
across  the  river,  which  was  swollen  with  recent  rains, 
and  ascended  the  hill  called  "II  Monte  dei  Capuc- 
cini"  and  had  a  partial  view  of  the  Alps.  The  sun  was 
shining  brightly,  but  there  was  a  thick  haze  which  pre- 
vented our  seeing  much  of  them.  The  view  which  I  did 
get,  however,  fired  me  with  enthusiasm  for  next  sum- 
mer's trip  in  Switzerland.  At  about  nine  Professor 
Danna  left  me,  inviting  me  to  come  to  his  house  in  the 
afternoon.  During  our  morning  walk  Professor  Danna 
asked  if  we  had  any  American  literature  besides  trans- 
lations from  other  languages.  I  tried  to  give  him  some 
adequate  idea  of  our  enormous  literature  and  of  the 
excellence  of  some  of  our  best  works. 

I  let  him  know  that  a  considerable  amount  of  classical 
reading  was  required  to  enter  our  universities.  This  was 
new  to  him.  I  also  had  an  opportunity  to  talk  on  meta- 
physics and  philosophy  of  which  I  availed  myself,  and 
I  think  I  gave  him  some  idea  of  the  sort  of  work  we  do 
in  college.    He  was  fundamentally  wrong  on  American 


250     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

religious  thought,  and  he  could  hardly  understand  how 
such  difference  of  opinions  between  the  various  sects 
could  exist  with  such  perfect  toleration  as  we  have. 

In  talking  about  our  country  I  soon  saw  that  he  had 
the  idea  that  our  last  war,  the  Civil  War,  was  between 
North  and  South  America;  that  South  America  en- 
couraged slavery,  and  that  the  United  States,  which 
included  most  of  North  America,  waged  war  against 
South  America  to  break  up  the  system  and  free  the 
slaves.  He  thought  it  was  so  strange  that  North  Amer- 
ica should  want  to  be  joined  to  South  America  in  one 
republic  when  they  were  so  naturally  separated  by  the 
GuK  of  Mexico,  with  only  the  narrow  Isthmus  of  Pan- 
ama to  connect.  Carefully  and  as  politely  as  I  was  able 
I  explained  his  mistake  and  gave  him  the  best  idea  I 
could,  in  so  short  a  time,  of  the  size  of  America  and  the 
total  independence  of  the  United  States  from  the  rest  of 
the  American  continent,  north  or  south.  This  ignorance 
was  on  the  part  of  a  professor  in  one  of  the  most  cele- 
brated universities  in  Italy.  He  is  known  as  a  literary 
man,  has  intimate  relations  with  the  leading  men  of 
the  north  of  Italy,  attends  lectures  on  the  influence  of 
the  discovery  of  America  on  European  history,  for  ex- 
ample, and  reads  Italian  newspapers  every  day. 

He  thought  that  the  American  family  of  Dana, 
though  the  name  was  spelt  differently,  was  descended 
from  the  Italian,  which  is  really  a  Piedmontese  family. 
He  suggested  that  several  of  the  Piedmontese  in  the 
last  great  religious  persecution  had  left  the  country 
and  that  they  had  gone  to  America.  Unfortunately 
for  his  theory;  that  persecution  and  emigration  was 
after  the  first  Dana  had  arrived  and  settled  in  the  Brit- 
ish colonies  in  Cambridge,  Massachusetts.  (It  is  pretty 
well  settled  that  the  "original"  Richard  Dana  came, 


PROFESSOR  DANNA  AND  HIS  FAMILY  251 

about  1640,  from  England,  where  there  were  families 
of  the  name  of  Dana  at  that  time.) 

Visited  picture  galleries,  and  after  lunch  went  to 
Professor  Danna's  apartment.  I  saw  his  family,  a  wife 
and  four  daughters.  They  were  all  cordial  and  pleasant. 
There  is  a  superb  view  of  the  Alps  from  the  window. 
We  saw,  I  think,  Monte  Rosa. 

"How  faintly-flushed,  how  phantom  fair 
Was  Monte  Rosa,  hanging  there." 

We  drank  healths  in  Italian  wine  with  the  family  and 
exchanged  compliments.  I  took  a  great  fancy  to  Mrs. 
Danna,  with  her  quiet,  good  breeding,  pleasant  manners, 
and  motherly  ways  with  her  children.  I  stayed  only 
three  quarters  of  an  hour  and  then  went  with  Professor 
Danna  to  see  a  collection  of  armor  in  the  Royal  Palace. 
It  was  the  best  of  the  kind  I  had  seen  anj^-here. 

Professor  Danna  has  just  about  the  position  I  always 
supposed.  The  family  is  eminently  respectable  and 
respected,  not  noble  or  even  very  prominent,  but  a 
family  of  gentlemen;  men  of  education,  including  pro- 
fessors and  clergj'men,  for  many  generations  back.  In 
Turin,  where  they  measure  their  salutes  by  the  regard 
for  the  man  saluted,  Professor  Danna  receives  a  low 
bow  except  from  the  titled  families.  They,  too,  show 
respect,  making  a  kindly  if  not  profound  bow  and  a 
slight  lift  of  the  hat. 

Thursday,  April  27 

Left  for  Paris  by  the  new  Mont  Cenis  tunnel. 

Friday,  April  28 

In  Paris  the  leaves  are  well  out,  especially  the  horse- 
chestnuts,  though  the  nights  are  chilly.  I  went  to  the 
Lay  as'  who  had  a  room  reserved  for  me. 


252     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

Sunday,  April  30 

In  the  evening  Signor  Franceschi,  a  great  Italian  singer 
and  singing  master,  perhaps  the  best  in  Paris  for  men's 
voices,  called  and  sang  for  us.  He  did  this  with  great 
ease  and  there  was  nothing  forced  about  his  method. 
He  sang,  too,  with  great  delicacy  of  expression.  He 
coaches  many  of  the  leading  grand  opera  soloists. 

Tuesday,  May  9 

In  the  evening  was  the  second  of  the  receptions  at  the 

Layas'.    Many  of  the  old  friends,  with  the  addition  of 

the  handsome  and    attractive   Countess   V who 

was  here  the  week  before.  She  is  French  by  birth 
and  married  a  Russian  count  of  good  family,  but  what 
we  would  consider  bad  morals.  He,  the  Layas  told  me, 
was  fascinating,  but  no  sooner  was  he  married  to  this 
beautiful  woman  than  he  began  to  carry  on  with  others ; 
not  that  they  were  more  beautiful  than  his  wife,  for 
such  would  be  hard  to  find,  but  from  mere  love  of  ex- 
citement in  intrigue  and  conquest.  When  he  came  to 
Paris  he  wanted  from  his  French  teacher  only  words 
for  making  love,  paying  compliments,  and  the  like.  The 
Countess  has  two  pretty  and  attractive  children,  a  boy 
and  a  girl  about  seven  and  eight,  and  she  is  still  young, 
about  twenty-five  or  six.  She  is  a  younger  cousin  of 
Mademoiselle  Laya.  She  takes  this  conduct  of  her  hus- 
band somewhat  as  a  matter  of  course  and  hopes  he  will 
come  back  to  her  before  long.  He  assumes  the  role  of 
Don  Juan  and  glories  in  it.  That  is  his  ideal  and  his 
career  in  life. 

Thursday,  May  11 

Visited  the  French  National  Library  and  one  of  the 

librarians,  a  friend  of  the  Layas,  took  me  about. 


THE  FRENCH  NATIONAL  LIBRARY  253 

When  one  is  uncertain  of  the  name  of  the  book 
wanted,  considerable  difficulty  arises  from  the  fact  that 
there  is  no  complete  catalogue.  The  librarian  acknowl- 
edged the  inconvenience,  but  said  it  was  difficult  to 
remedy.  They  had  been  working  for  years  on  a  cat- 
alogue and  had  only  got  a  short  way  down  the  alphabet, 
and  by  the  time  it  was  anywhere  near  completion,  it 
would  have  to  be  wholly  revised  on  account  of  new 
books.  I  told  him  of  the  card  system  in  the  Boston  Pub- 
lic Library  where  there  were  nearly  as  many  books  as  in 
the  French  National.  He  professed  to  know  of  the  sys- 
tem, but  thought  it  would  be  "clumsy." 

When  a  reader  has  finished  a  book,  he  takes  it  back  to 
the  desk,  and  if  he  takes  out  no  more  he  has  a  duplicate 
paper  given  him  with  rendu  stamped  on  it.  This  has 
to  be  given  the  door-keeper  before  he  is  allowed  to  pass 
out. 

The  magasin,  where  are  the  books  oftenest  used,  was 
so  badly  ventilated,  the  librarian  told  me,  that  in  the 
upper  part  of  it  the  books  were  being  injured  by  the 
heat.  I  was  shown  shelves  devoted  to  American  lit- 
erature. Cooper's  novels  were  conspicuous  and  Marryat 
appeared  there,  an  Englishman,  though  it  is  true  he  was 
in  America  for  some  time  and  wrote  one  or  two  works 
there.  There  were  no  private  rooms  in  the  library  for 
special  workers,  but  behind  the  clerk's  desk  there  were 
tables  where  some  fifteen  or  twenty  could  be  accommo- 
dated and  could  work;  not  with  less  noise,  however,  for 
there  was  a  good  deal  of  it  from  the  clerks'  passing  back 
and  forth,  but  at  least  apart  from  the  multitude. 

The  whole  library  was  a  curious  illustration  of  in- 
genuity and  inconvenience  combined.  There  were  all 
sorts  of  little  railroads,  electric  bells,  small  elevators 
for  books,  several  speaking-tubes,  and  a  double  glass 


254     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

slide  so  arranged  that  one  end  or  the  other  was  always 
kept  shut  so  as  to  avoid  drafts,  yet  the  reading-room 
was  so  cold  that  at  this  season,  when  there  were  no 
fires,  the  clerks  and  librarians  had  to  keep  on  their  over- 
coats. From  lack  of  a  catalogue  the  public  was  put  to 
great  inconvenience.  The  principal  railway  was  never 
used,  it  being  found  much  easier  to  carry  the  books 
for  the  short  distance  than  to  go  through  the  loading 
and  unloading. 

The  whole  afternoon  I  spent  in  the  annual  Paris 
Salon,  where  there  were  over  three  thousand  pictures. 
The  collection,  I  thought,  was  very  creditable,  indeed, 
though  lacking  in  great  masterpieces.  Even  Dore's 
"Entrance  into  Jerusalem"  was  not  so  very  wonderful. 
The  painting  appeared  to  be  too  flat.  There  was  not 
enough  difference  in  the  color  of  the  near  and  of  the  dis- 
tant greens.  There  was  no  air  or  atmosphere  in  the 
picture,  values  were  lost  sight  of,  and  effects  of  distance 
were  produced  by  perspective  or  strong  contrasts  of 
light  and  shadow.  However,  the  life  and  expression 
in  the  figures  were  very  striking  and  the  whole  subject 
well  conceived;  in  short,  I  thought  it  better  drawn  than 
colored.  There  was  a  superabundance  of  paintings  of 
nude  women  in  various  postures.  There  were  also  some 
portraits  of  celebrated  demi-monde  women. 

Sunday,  May  14 

At  dinner  was  the  sweet  Countess  V again,  at  the 

Layas'.  I  bade  every  one  good-bye  on  retiring,  as  I 
was  to  start  off  early  the  next  morning.  Madame  Laya, 
who  has  been  almost  as  kind  to  me  as  a  mother,  was 
very  much  affected  at  my  going  away.  She  is  a  brave, 
good  woman,  now  pretty  old  and  infirm.  She  has  had 
a  great  deal  of  suffering  in  her  life. 


A  FRENCH  COURT  255 

Left  Paris  for  London  by  way  of  Rouen,  Havre,  and 
Southampton.  At  Rouen  went  to  the  Court  of  Appeals 
in  the  early  afternoon  and  heard  a  sentence  of  impris- 
onment for  two  years  and  the  beginning  of  a  new  suit 
and  the  swearing-in  of  the  jury.  When  I  saw  a  sentence 
for  two  years'  imprisonment  quietly  given  by  the  judge, 
as  if  it  were  a  matter  of  course,  the  look  of  despair  on 
the  condemned's  face,  and  the  guards  marching  him  off, 
and  at  the  same  time  had  not  heard  the  case  myself,  it 
seemed  almost  cruel.  The  judges  were  dressed  in  red 
and  the  avocats  had  long  black  gowns  with  large  square 
white  ties  hanging  from  the  neck.  The  jury  were  sworn 
in  one  by  one  instead  of  all  together  as  with  us. 

On  the  train  from  Rouen  to  Havre  I  rode  with  a  nice 
Enghsh  gentleman  and  lady  of  very  quiet  manners  and 
dress  and  much  dignity  and  I  saw  them  again  on  the 
steamer. 

Tuesday,  May  16 

Passed  the  Isle  of  Wight  early  in  the  morning  and  Cowes 
by  half -past  five.  We  saw  the  Solent  on  our  left  and 
got  into  Southampton  after  breakfast.  Again  I  hap- 
pened to  ride  in  the  carriage  with  the  same  English 
people  as  from  Rouen  to  Havre.  We  fell  into  conver- 
sation and  I  found  the  gentleman  very  intelligent  on 
American  politics.  Suddenly  he  asked  me,  not  having 
the  slightest  idea  of  my  name,  but  knowing  I  was  an 
American,  whether  I  thought  there  was  any  chance  of 
Dana's  being  elected  President  of  the  United  States.  I 
happened  to  have  in  my  hand  a  pamphlet  by  my  father 
which  he  had  recently  mailed  me  entitled  ''Aliens  and 
Alien  Enemies"  on  a  branch  of  international  law.  I 
suddenly  had  a  fit  of  shyness.  I  thought  it  would  be  so 
strange  to  tell  them  I  was  the  son  of  the  very  man  they 


056    HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

were  talking  of.  Of  course  I  had  my  visiting  cards,  this 
pamphlet,  and  letters  addressed  to  me  for  confirma- 
tion, but  I  never  told  who  I  was.  (Ever  afterwards  I 
wished  I  had  plucked  up  courage  and  made  myself 
known  to  these  cultivated  and  agreeable  people.) 

After  the  Continent,  the  houses  in  the  suburbs  of 
London  struck  me  as  dirtier,  smaller,  and  uglier  than 
ever  and  in  London  itself  the  usual  dwelling-houses  low. 
The  public  buildings,  however,  looked  well.  The  wind 
was  east,  blowing  from  the  "City,"  and  the  air  had 
that  peculiar  London  odor,  a  mixture  of  malt  and 
bituminous  coal  smoke.  The  air  was  soft  and  soothing. 
Went  to  Mrs.  Brooks's  where  I  had  secured  lodgings. 
Met  an  American  named  Horsfall,  a  friend  of  Henry  F. 
Wild's,  who  is  engaged  to  one  of  my  sisters.  He  in- 
vited me  on  a  party  to  see  the  great  Derby  races  on  my 
return  from  Oxford  and  Cambridge. 


CHAPTER  XVII 
OXFORD  AND  CAMBRIDGE 

Thursday,  May  18 

Arrived  in  Oxford  in  the  early  afternoon.  I  entered 
by  the  road  from  the  station.  Had  I  known  how  ugly 
that  part  of  the  town  was  I  should  have  got  out  at  the 
station  before  Oxford  and  entered  by  the  Magdalen 
Bridge.  Coming  in  as  I  did  by  the  station  and  freight 
yards  with  goods  trains  about,  I  was  a  little  disap- 
pointed, not  finding  it  at  first  sight  as  romantic  as  I  had 
expected. 

The  students  do  not  wear  tall  silk  hats  even  exception- 
ally, but  either  the  soft  cap,  or  round  hat  of  dark  stiff 
felt,  or  a  straw  hat  with  the  ribbon  of  their  college  crew 
or  cricket  club.  They  carry  canes  in  clear  weather  and 
umbrellas  in  wet  They  dress  like,  though  perhaps 
rather  better  than.  Harvard  students  and  have  the  same 
general  air.  The  cap  and  gown  are  not  now  required  in 
the  afternoon  and,  of  course,  are  not  worn  when  not 
exacted  by  the  rules.  I  met  many  fellows  with  their 
flannel  suits  for  boating  or  cricket,  with  soft,  round 
cloth  caps,  of  different  colors,  having  small  visors.  White 
flannel  trousers  are  always  worn  in  the  exercise  suits. 
A  dark  blue  coat  is  the  most  common,  with  the  arms 
of  the  college  over  the  left  pocket.  Magdalen  men  wear 
a  bright  scarlet  coat.  I  called  on  Edmund  M.  Parker 
(later  Bishop  of  New  Hampshire)  at  Keble  College  and 
found  him  in,  just  putting  on  his  flannel  boating  suit 
or  "flannels"  as  it  is  called,  to  run  with  his  crew.  It  is 
the  second  day  of  the  bumping  races. 

The  Keble  College  dormitory  rooms  are  small  in 


258     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

comparison  with  most  of  those  in  Harvard.  They  are, 
however,  for  only  one  man  each  instead  of  for  two. 
Each  study  has  a  bedroom  attached.  The  entries  are 
as  dreary  and  dirty  as  those  in  HoUis,  or  Stoughton, 
or  Gray's  at  Harvard.  We  went  down  to  the  boats  by 
the  broad  walk  with  its  overarching  trees  and  the  mead- 
ows at  one  side. 

I  saw  the  river  and  barges  for  the  iSrst  time.  The 
barges,  which  are  moored  along  the  bank,  look  very  like 
the  saloons  of  small  river  steamers.  They  are  flat  boats 
with  a  top  not  unlike  a  horse-car,  only  larger,  with  rows 
of  windows  close  together.  One  end  of  each  is  fitted  up 
as  a  reading-room  with  chairs,  tables,  daily  and  sport- 
ing papers,  writing-materials,  and  furnishings  more  or 
less  luxurious  according  to  the  taste  and  wealth  of  the 
various  colleges.  Keble  is  the  only  college  without  a 
barge.  It  hires  some  rooms  on  the  opposite  bank  and 
further  up  the  river. 

The  smallest  and  poorest  barge  is  that  of  Brasenose, 
which  bumped  University  last  night  and  is  now  head 
of  the  river  and  was  the  college  of  "Tom  Brown"  at 
Oxford.  The  other  end  of  each  barge  is  an  ordinary 
dressing-room,  generally  with  hand-basins,  but  never 
baths,  for  the  use  of  members.  The  dressing  accommo- 
dations are  rather  small.  Each  barge  has  its  college 
flag  flying,  and  the  University  barge  for  the  use  of  the 
'Varsity  crew  and  oflScers  of  the  O.U.B.C.  has  the  flags 
of  all  the  colleges  hung  from  one  mast  in  the  order  of 
the  boats  as  they  stand  on  the  river,  and  also  has  a  band 
of  music.  There  were  many  ladies,  mostly  young,  with 
gay  dresses,  bright  cheeks,  and  sparkling  eyes,  on  the 
top  of  their  favorite  college  barges  or  along  the  banks, 
making  a  brilliant  and  lively  scene. 

We  crossed  the  river  to  get  to  the  towpath  by  means 


OXFORD  ROWING  259 

of  a  little  "punt"  poled  by  a  water-man  who  expects 
a  penny  unless  you  are  a  subscriber  to  Sadler,  the  boat- 
builder.  The  river  here  is  about  two  hundred  feet  broad, 
while  in  most  places  it  is  not  more  than  one  hundred. 
We  went  down  with  the  crowd  of  students  and  I  had 
pointed  out  to  me  the  "Gut,"  the  "Lay  Bridges,"  and 
other  classical  spots.  We  stayed  above  the  "Gut"  and 
waited  for  the  boats. 

It  was  the  second  division  that  was  rowing.  Each 
college  at  Oxford  has  a  boat  club  and  nearly  every  club 
sends  an  eight-oar  crew  to  row  and  maintain  its  position 
on  the  river.  There  are  twenty-one  eight-oar  crews 
racing  this  year,  and  as  the  course  is  short,  they  are 
for  convenience  divided  into  two  divisions.  The  races 
are  rowed  in  the  following  manner:  The  crews  are 
moored  along  the  bank  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  apart 
and  start  off  at  the  signal  of  the  gun  firing.  They  row 
upstream  against  the  current  for  about  one  and  a  third 
miles.  If  a  crew  catches  up  with  one  in  front  and  suc- 
ceeds in  touching  the  boat  ahead  with  their  oars  or  prow, 
the  crew  thus  catching  up  is  said  to  have  made  a 
"bump."  The  races  are  continued  for  eight  days  and 
each  crew  having  made  a  bump  is  placed  on  the  follow- 
ing day  above  the  crew  it  has  tagged.  The  second  divi- 
sion rows  first  and  the  boat  at  its  head  rows  last  in  the 
first  division  an  hour  and  a  half  afterwards.  Each  year 
the  crews  are  placed  in  the  order  they  were  at  the  end 
of  the  bumping  races  the  year  before,  and  if  any  college 
should  fail  to  send  a  crew,  it  has  to  begin  at  the  bot- 
tom of  the  line  the  next  year  and  work  its  way  up,  if 
it  can. 

We  had  not  long  to  wait,  but  at  exactly  twenty-five 
minutes  past  five  the  five-minute  gun  was  fired  and  at 
twenty-nine  past,  the   one-minute  gun,  and  at  half- 


260     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

past,  the  starting  gun.  The  latter  is  fired  at  the  exact 
time  for  which  the  races  are  appointed.  If  a  boat  is  not 
in  position  and  ready,  it  loses  its  place.  There  is  no 
delay  on  account  of  rough  weather  on  that  narrow  river, 
and  so  certain  is  one  of  promptness  that  there  is  no  time 
wasted  and  people  make  their  arrangements  to  dine, 
take  tea,  or  study  in  the  hour  and  a  half  between  the 
two  divisions.  Soon  we  heard  a  distant  roar  and  saw 
the  crowds  of  fellows  in  their  flannels  running  along  the 
towpath  below  the  "Gut"  and  could  just  catch  glimpses 
of  the  jerseys  of  the  crews  swinging  backward  and  for- 
ward in  regular  time.  The  men  running  on  the  bank 
divided  themselves  into  clusters,  cheering  the  boats  of 
their  respective  colleges.  I  ran  along  with  the  crews 
the  last  part  of  the  way.  Their  rowing  was  in  general 
not  unlike  ours,  only  that  in  Harvard  as  a  rule  none  but 
the  University  crews  carry  out  the  correct  principles 
so  well  in  actual  practice.  The  men  were  not  stronger 
or  larger  than  members  of  our  ordinary  class  crews,  if 
I  except  two  or  three  crews  in  the  first  division. 

Between  the  races  of  the  divisions  Green,  a  friend  of 
Parker,  put  my  name  down  at  the  Oxford  Union  and 
showed  me  their  library,  reading-  and  deba ting-rooms. 
The  entrance  to  the  Union  was  not  prepossessing.  It  was 
through  an  alley,  but  the  building  was  pretty,  built  of 
red  and  black  bricks,  and  was  well  arranged.  The  de- 
bating-room  was  fitted  up  very  like  the  House  of  Com- 
mons in  Parliament.  Around  the  gallery,  in  which, 
alone,  strangers  were  admitted  during  debates,  were 
cases  of  books,  which  gave  a  look  of  richness  to  the 
room  and  served  as  library  at  the  same  time.  There  was 
a  large,  comfortable  writing-room  in  which  were  numer- 
ous tables  well  supplied  for  the  writers'  needs,  including 
sealing  wax. 


THE  OXFORD  UNION  261 

All  letters  of  members  are  stamped  without  charge. 
The  stamps  are  supplied  at  the  expense  of  the  club. 
They  find  that  the  system  works  very  well  and  is  cer- 
tainly a  great  convenience.  After  a  hurried  dinner  at 
the  hotel,  went  down  to  see  the  first  division  row.  The 
rowing  in  the  first  division  was  naturally  better  than  in 
the  second.  Some  men  rowed  very  finely.  The  crews 
had  been  practicing  only  three  weeks  on  account  of  the 
lateness  of  the  Easter  vacation  this  year,  and  so  none  of 
them  were  perfectly  "in  swing  together."  It  was  only 
surprising  to  see  that  there  was  as  much  rhythm  where 
the  men  were  so  little  used  to  each  other's  motions. 
It  showed  what  good  coaching  could  do. 

The  advantages  for  coaching  at  Oxford  are  excellent. 
There  is  a  towpath  about  eight  feet  broad  close  to  the 
river  for  twenty  miles  or  more  up  and  down,  and  so 
narrow  is  the  river  that  a  shout  can  easily  be  heard 
across.  The  coach  for  the  University  crew  follows  it 
on  horseback,  and  day  after  day  they  never  row  out  of 
his  sight. 

After  these  last  races,  which  took  place  at  seven,  I 
went  to  the  Oxford  Union  to  hear  the  debate.  The 
question  proposed  was  "That  the  present  constitution 
of  the  House  of  Lords  is  totally  unsatisfactory."  The 
meeting  began  with  some  club  business  about  buying 
books  for  the  library  and  certain  proposed  extensions 
in  the  way  of  building.  There  was  a  good  deal  of  calling 
out,  "Hear,  Hear,"  as  in  the  House  of  Commons.  One 
rather  nervous  fellow,  beginning  to  speak  on  a  simple 
matter  of  buying  certain  books,  was  so  embarrassed 
that  when  several  fellows  called,  "Speak  out,  don't  be 
afraid,"  he  abandoned  his  attempt.  Upon  that  the 
librarian  arose  and  requested  that  the  House  might  be 
quiet  enough  to  allow  the  member  to  proceed,  for  he 


262     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

did  not  wish  any  suggestion  to  be  lost  or  any  criticism 
shunned  through  the  disorder  of  members. 

The  debate  on  the  main  question  of  the  day  began 
with  a  very'long  radical  speech,  not  well  spoken  and 
badly  thought  out,  with  several  exaggerations  and  glit- 
tering generalities.  There  were  more  radical  speeches 
than  conservative,  and  yet  there  was  a  large  conserva- 
tive majority  in  the  House.  At  last  one  conservative 
member  got  up  and  gave  a  very  good  speech  in  manner 
and  style,  at  least,  wholly  superior  to  any  that  had  gone 
before.  He  said,  in  substance,  'Wliy  does  not  every  con- 
servative member  jump  to  his  feet  to  defend  his  cause 
against  such  attacks.^  Wliy  do  they  show  so  much 
apathyPDo  they  feel  that  they  are  defeated.^  No.  They 
feel  that  these  questions  have  been  put  to  the  country 
and  have  been  answered.  They  feel  that  the  House  of 
Lords  does  not  need  vindication  from  such  attacks. 
That  was  the  general  outline  of  his  speech,  perhaps  too 
strongly  on  one  side,  but  well  arranged  and  effective.  It 
brought  down  a  storm  of  applause.  The  speaker  was  a 
graduate  and  a  "fellow." 

There  was  considerable  noise  at  the  back  of  the  room, 
where  a  number  of  young  men  were  playing  tricks  on 
one  another,  calling  out  and  laughing.  Two  requests 
from  the  president  had  no  effect,  and  then  he  got  up 
and  said  that  he  would  be  very  sorry  to  go  to  such  an 
extremity  as  to  use  a  prerogative  only  once  employed 
before  in  the  history  of  the  Union,  namely,  to  adjourn 
the  meeting  on  account  of  noise,  but  that  if  it  was  not 
more  quiet  he  should  be  obliged  to  do  so.  Then  he 
spoke  of  the  disrespect  to  the  visitors  (the  gallery  was 
filled  with  ladies  and  gentlemen)  and  hoped  he  would 
have  nothing  further  to  do  on  his  part,  but  that  the 
noise  would  stop  of  itseK.    The  House  was  quiet  in  a 


PROFESSOR  BURROWS  263 

moment.  I  counted  some  two  hundred  and  fifty  mem- 
bers on  the  floor  at  one  time.  I  think  the  number  must 
have  risen  to  about  three  hundred  later.  I  left  about 
half -past  ten  while  the  meeting  was  still*  in  session. 

Friday,  May  19 

Spent  the  morning  in  writing  letters  at  the  Oxford 
Union,  of  which  I  had  in  due  form  been  given  the  "privi- 
leges." On  returning  to  the  hotel  I  found  a  card  from 
Professor  Burrows,  of  All  Souls,  asking  me  to  meet 
him  at  his  college  lecture  about  two  o'clock,  which  I 
did  after  lunch.  His  lecture  was  a  review  and  criticism 
of  the  ideas  regarding  the  history  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  and  especially  on  Clarendon,  very  interesting 
to  me  as  I  took  a  course  on  that  period  at  Harvard. 
He  presented  me  to  his  nephew,  F.  R.  Burrows,  a  high 
rank  scholar,  who  invited  me  to  breakfast  with  him  to 
meet  the  president  and  secretary  of  the  Oxford  Union 
to-morrow  morning.  In  the  lecture-room  I  also  met 
Mrs.  and  Miss  Burrows,  who  arranged  to  have  me  at 
lunch  to-morrow.  After  the  lecture  Professor  Burrows 
showed  me  about  his  college  a  little.  In  the  main  room 
was  a  rare  picture  of  Jeremy  Taylor,  said  to  be  the  most 
authentic  in  existence.  There  was  a  poor  one  of  my 
friend  Sir  William  Heathcote,  who  is  a  fellow  of  All 
Souls.  Professor  Burrows  showed  me  the  new  reredos 
in  the  chapel  made  on  the  remains  of  the  old  one  re- 
cently discovered,  and,  oh,  the  beautiful  flowers,  smooth 
lawns,  and  grand  trees  all  about,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
satisfying  architecture ! 

Charles  P.  Parker  (later  professor  at  Harvard)  called 
and  asked  me  to  lunch  at  Cowley,  where  he  is  staying 
with  the  Cowley  Fathers,  on  Sunday.  Some  of  these 
young  men  need  to  be  taken  in  hand  and  made  to  speak 


264     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

without  stammering.  They  exaggerate  in  themselves 
the  faults  of  Father  Benson,  the  head  of  that  order,  in 
that  respect. 

Went  down  the  river  to  see  the  second  division  row. 
Keble  made  a  bump.  I  met  Louis  Dyer,  my  beloved 
classmate  at  Harvard,  at  the  hotel.  He  invited  me  to 
dine  with  him  at  the  Hall  in  Balliol  and  said  he  would 
make  arrangements  to  have  me  live  in  college  and  was 
very  kind  in  every  way.  He  has  a  perfect  genius  for 
friendship  and  his  quiet  humor  and  devotion  to  others 
has  made  him  very  popular,  I  am  told,  all  over  Oxford. 
(He  was  afterwards  lecturer  at  Oxford  and  held  many 
other  distinguished  positions.  He  died  as  a  result  of  a 
bicycle  accident  in  1908.  See  the  very  interesting  notice 
of  him  by  William  T.  Piper  in  the  Ninth  Report  of  the 
Harvard  Class  of  1874,  1909,  pages  34-37.)  We  went 
down  together  to  the  river  to  see  the  first  division  row. 
They  pointed  out  to  me  some  of  the  University  oarsmen 
now  rowing  in  different  crews.  They  were  very  fine 
fellows,  but  none  larger  or  better  oarsmen  than  Daniel 
C.  Bacon  or  Wendell  Goodwin,  my  fellow  members  of 
the  Harvard  University  crew. 

As  I  was  walking  through  the  street,  I  was  thinking 
how  little  the  men  looked  like  our  idea  of  Englishmen, 
when  I  saw  one  coming  toward  me  and  I  said,  "Here  at 
last  is  the  very  picture  of  one"  —  bushy  side  whiskers, 
pantaloons  w^ith  a  pattern  of  enormous  checks,  a  single 
eyeglass,  a  carefully  studied  squint,  and  a  nonchalant  air. 
On  coming  nearer  it  turned  out  to  be  Waldo  Story,  the 
elder,  the  son  of  W.  W.  Story,  the  American  sculptor 
whom  I  had  met  in  Rome.  He  invited  me  to  dine  with 
him  to-morrow  in  Christ  Church  College. 

Balliol  Hall,  in  which  I  dined  with  Dyer,  is  not  a  par- 
ticularly fine  one.    It  has  several  pictures,  but  plain 


GLIMPSES  OF  UNIVERSITY  LIFE  265 

walls.  We  dined  at  the  strangers'  table,  where  we  had  a 
good  dinner,  better  than  the  ordinary  one,  and  after- 
wards had  dessert  in  Dyer's  room,  and  there  I  met 
Lockhart,  grandnephew  of  Sir  Walter  Scott,  a  Mr. 
Standish,  and  others.  We  passed  the  evening  pleasantly 
with  music  and  talking.  I  was  the  only  non-smoker.  We 
all  sipped  sherry  and  a  large  three-handled  mug  of 
claret  "cup"  was  passed  round  as  is  the  custom. 
Balliol,  Dyer's  college,  ranks  high  in  scholarship,  doubt- 
less the  highest  of  any  at  Oxford.  Its  entrance  exam- 
inations are  severe. 

Saturday,  May  20 

Went  to  breakfast  with  F.  R.  Burrows,  of  Trinity.  On 
my  way  there  I  heard  a  great  noise  over  the  gateway, 
and  on  meeting  Burrows  a  few  moments  afterwards 
below,  he  told  me  he  had  gone  up  into  the  room  over  the 
gate  to  await  me,  and  that  some  fellows  had  locked 
him  in.  He  made  a  great  row  to  attract  the  porter's 
attention,  who  let  him  out.  He  then  threw  the  shoes 
of  those  who  had  locked  him  in  over  on  the  Balliol 
College  green.  I  found  in  Burrows's  room  Milman, 
president  of  the  Oxford  Union,  and  two  others.  We  had 
to  wait  about  an  hour  and  a  half  for  the  secretary  of  the 
Oxford  Union,  who  had  overslept  himself.  We  stayed 
talking  till  half-past  ten,  when  all  but  Burrows  had  to 
gooff.  Milman  told  me  that  when  one  has  been  "up" 
for  a  couple  of  years  and  has  the  general  reputation  of 
a  "reader,"  he  can  "cut"  as  many  lectures  as  he  pleases 
and  a  large  number  of  prayers  without  being  called  to 
task.  He  said  that  he  had  not  attended  a  lecture  for  a 
long  time,  and  also  that  after  a  certain  point  it  was 
waste  of  time  for  a  hard  reader  working  for  honors  to 
attend  lectures. 


266     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

They  said  that  the  system  of  gates  was  only  a  ques- 
tion of  money  up  to  twelve  o'clock  at  night,  and  that 
after  that  hour  one  could  be  out  several  times,  espe- 
cially if  he  was  not  a  freshman,  without  serious  trouble. 
On  the  whole  they  thought  the  gating  system  good.  It 
appears  that  the  proctors  keep  several  professional 
runners,  called  "bulldogs,"  to  chase  and  catch  any 
students  seen  breaking  the  rules.  After  the  others  had 
gone  Burrows  took  me  to  Trinity  Chapel  and  then  to 
see  the  celebrated  Lime  Walk  and  Christ  Church  Cathe- 
dral. In  reading  a  Latin  quotation,  I  made  a  false 
quantity  by  a  slip  of  the  tongue,  and  instead  of  im- 
mediately correcting  it,  I  looked  to  see  whether  Burrows 
had  noticed  it,  but  I  could  not  make  out  whether  he 
did  not  notice  it  or  was  too  polite  to  make  any  remark 
or  even  lift  an  eyebrow. 

We  walked  across  the  Magdalen  Bridge  and  looked 
at  the  Tower  and  fortunately  a  cart  and  horse  came 
dow^n  the  opposite  bank.  The  horse  leaned  down  to 
drink  and  made  altogether  a  perfect  setting  for  a  picture. 
I  am  now  much  more  in  the  spirit  of  Oxford  and  be- 
gin to  feel  its  fascinating  influence.  Like  Niagara  Falls 
it  grows  on  one  slowly.  It  requires  several  days  to  en- 
joy it  fully.  We  visited  Magdalen  Chapel  and  cloisters 
and  looked  down  Addison's  Walk.  Words  fail  me  to 
express  the  charm  and  beauty  of  these  places. 

The  proctors  at  Oxford  hold  altogether  an  inferior 
position  to  those  at  Harvard.  At  Oxford  they  are 
nothing  but  a  police  force.  They  wander  about  the 
streets  day  and  night  and  are  obliged  to  look  into  bil- 
liard rooms,  hotels,  and  bars,  and  have  the  right  to 
search  any  house  in  town  with  only  ten  minutes'  notice, 
by  virtue  of  an  old  provision  in  the  charter  of  Oxford. 
They  are  despised  by  the  best  students  and  detested 


THE  OXFORD-HARVARD  RACE  OF  1869         267 

by  the  rest  and  get  no  respect  from  the  professors  or 
tutors.  With  us  a  proctor  is  usually  a  recent  graduate 
who  is  given  a  room  in  a  college  hall,  has  to  maintain 
reasonable  order  and  quiet,  but  is  not  obliged  to  go 
round  the  town  spying  on  the  students. 

I  lunched  with  Professor  Burrows,  who  lives  at  9 
Northam  Road,  in  a  pretty  brick  house.  He  and  Mrs. 
Burrows  were  very  kind.  He  had  unfortunately  to 
hurry  off  before  lunch  was  over,  but  asked  me  to  break- 
fast to-morrow  morning  and  to  go  to  church  afterwards. 

I  met  Dyer  by  appointment  soon  after.  He  had  pro- 
cured a  room  for  me  in  Balliol.  Its  occupant  had  gone 
to  London  "  to  bury  a  grandmother."  Its  back  windows 
face  on  the  Martyrs'  Memorial.  It  is  on  the  second 
story  and  the  stairs  are  just  past  the  Tower,  on  turning 
to  the  right  after  entering  the  gate  of  Balliol  close  to  the 
INIartyrs'  Memorial.  We  visited  New  College  Hall  and 
cloisters.  This  name  shows  the  antiquity  of  Oxford. 
New  College  was  founded  one  hundred  years  before 
the  discovery  of  America.  We  stayed  for  the  afternoon 
services  at  New  College  Chapel  and  heard  probably  the 
best  choir  in  Oxford  sing  "I  waited  for  the  Lord." 

We  saw  the  races  from  University  College  barge. 
Then  Burrows  presented  me  to  Boit,  the  admiral  of  the 
O.U.B.C,  who  was  very  cordial.  I  dined  in  Trinity 
Hall  with  Douglas  Robinson  of  St.  Paul's  School,  Con- 
cord, New  Hampshire.  He  was  a  nephew  of  J.  C.  Tinne, 
captain  and  largest  man  of  the  Oxford  four  that  beat 
our  Harvard  four  in  the  Putney  to  Mortlake  race  in 
18G9.  Some  of  the  English  newspapers  had  tried  to 
make  out  that  the  race  was  not  close,  though  Oxford 
only  beat  Harvard  by  six  seconds,  a  much  closer  finish 
than  in  the  average  race  between  Oxford  and  Cambridge, 
but  Robinson  told  me  that  his  uncle  said  that  it  was  a 


268     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

very  hard  race  to  the  end;  that  Oxford  had  expected 
to  pass  us  much  sooner  than  she  did,  that  toward  the 
end  we  began  creeping  up,  and  they  had  to  row  every 
ounce  that  was  in  them  to  keep  the  lead. 

Later  I  went  to  the  elder  Story's  room  and  had  des- 
sert, as  it  is  called,  or  wine.  There  I  met  a  son  of  Mat- 
thew Arnold,  to  whom  I  took  quite  a  fancy.  We  had 
some  "Derby"  talk,  some  college  stories  and  singing 
and  piano-playing.  Arnold  played  with  much  feeling 
and  enthusiasm,  but  not  in  a  finished  style.  The  dining- 
hall  of  Trinity  is  very  fine,  with  dark,  old  oak  carving 
and  paneling  and  a  superb  entrance.  I  returned  to  my 
room  in  Balliol,  which  I  found  ready  for  me,  and  had 
to  ring  at  the  archway  as  the  gate  was  shut. 

Sunday,  May  21 

Breakfasted  with  the  Burrows  family.  Professor 
Burrows  said  that  Lord  Lyttelton  was  going  too  far  in 
university  reform.  He  said  there  were  some  old  fellow- 
ships and  special  endowments  which  were  perfectly 
useless  and  might  well  be  changed,  but  that  Lord 
Lyttelton  wished  to  go  much  farther  and  to  have,  for 
example,  money  given  for  maintaining  choirs  used  for 
new  buildings  or  establishing  new  fellowships  and,  in 
fact,  wished  to  be  allowed  to  change  special  endow- 
ments from  one  purpose  to  another  as  if  they  were 
unrestricted  funds.  He  said  that  now  with  the  con- 
servative turn  in  politics  he  thought  these  plans  would 
not  be  carried  out.  We  went  to  hear  the  Bampton 
lecture  by  the  Bishop  of  Derry. 

I  had  an  appointment  to  see  Edward  Moss,  the 
stroke  and  captain  of  the  Oxford  University  crew,  in 
his  room  in  Brasenose  after  church.  When  I  got  there 
he  had  gone,  but  his  friend  who  made  the  appointment 


LUNCHEON  WITH  THE  COWLEY  FATHERS      269 

said  that  Moss  had  mistaken  the  hour  and  was  off  hold- 
ing the  "Derby"  lottery  for  the  great  horse-race.  To 
think  that  such  things  are  going  on  on  Sunday  in  quiet, 
religious  Oxford  and  that,  too,  before  most  of  the  chapels 
were  over !  I  was  out  at  that  hour  because  the  Bampton 
sermon  began  earlier  than  any  of  the  others. 

I  walked  out  to  Cowley  and  lunched  with  the  Fathers. 
I  saw  Father  Benson,  Father  Ritchie,  Charles  P. 
Parker,  and  others.  It  struck  me  that  the  conversation 
was  in  general  rather  weak  and  that  there  was  a  good 
deal  of  rather  trifling  talk,  not  on  higher  spiritual 
things  or  necessary  business  or  on  literature  or  philoso- 
phy, but  on  the  clergy  and  their  personal  peculiarities 
and  small  details  of  church  matters.  In  fact,  there  was 
a  great  deal  of  "shop"  talk.  In  a  conversation  about 
the  thirty-nine  articles,  it  turned  out  that  one  or  two 
who  were  at  least  deacons  had  rather  vague  notions 
about  what  was  necessary  to  believe;  whether  it  was 
not  enough  to  have  believed  their  general  spirit  or  most 
of  them;  and  yet  these  were  men  who  had  testified  to 
their  belief  in  these  articles.  Father  Benson  and  Charles 
Parker  were  rather  more  serious  and  refrained  from 
joining  in  the  personalities. 

They  all  dined  at  a  semi-circular  table.  The  dining- 
room  walls  were  bare  and  the  Brethren  sat  on  wooden 
benches.  After  grace  and  during  the  helping,  verses 
were  read  from  the  Bible  by  one  of  the  acolytes.  The 
dinner  consisted  of  meat,  potatoes,  turnip  tops,  and 
rhubarb  pie  with  heavy  crust,  and  badly  brewed  beer. 
The  idea  of  plain  food  was  good,  but  this  dinner  was 
unwholesome,  badly  served,  badly  cooked,  and  the  sur- 
roundings had  a  mediaeval  want  of  cleanliness.  A  little 
of  the  Jewish  or  Mohammedan  idea  of  water  connected 
with  worship  would  do  the  Brethren  no  harm.    After 


270     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

thanksgiving  for  the  repast  we  went  to  the  chapel  in 
the  story  above,  Father  Benson  mounting  the  steps 
two  at  a  time  and  yet  with  an  air  so  grave  and  dressed 
in  so  long  a  cloak  that  the  effect  was  really  comical. 

We  went  through  a  service  in  the  chapel  from  a  spe- 
cial book,  but  I  soon  lost  the  place  and  all  was  confusion, 
for  the  reading  was  so  mumbled  that  I  could  not  follow 
what  was  said.  A  few  minutes  of  quiet  were  given  to  all 
on  our  knees.  When  Father  Benson  enters  a  room  the 
conversation  stops  and  all  rise  and  are  evidently  not  at 
their  ease.  When  they  address  him  they  are  unnatural 
and  become  slightly  confused.  He  is  a  king  and  not  a 
brother  among  them.  Charles  Parker  and  I  took  a  walk 
up  one  of  the  neighboring  hills  and  had  a  superb  view 
of  Oxford,  one  that  is  quite  noted,  he  told  me. 

I  walked  back  in  time  for  the  afternoon  service  at 
Magdalen  College;  pronounced  here  "Maudlin."  The 
singing  was  very  fine;  the  anthem  was  the  "Wilderness." 
A  little  boy  sang  up  to  high  A  with  soft,  pleasing  quality. 
I  dined  with  Jupp,  of  Magdalen,  at  Magdalen  Hall. 
Jupp  has  some  sort  of  fellowship  in  mathematics  and 
a  good  fellow  he  is  too.  Young  Burrows  introduced  me 
to  him.  I  drank  beer  out  of  an  old  beer  mug  made  in 
1698.  There  is  very  little  silver  older  than  that  in 
Oxford,  as  it  was  almost  all  used  up  in  the  revolution 
in  1649.  We  went  to  Jupp's  room  for  dessert.  It  is  a 
corner  room,  overlooking  the  Magdalen  Bridge,  and  is 
in  one  of  the  towers  of  the  college.  The  air  was  de- 
lightfully soft  and  balmy  and  all  was  still  outside  except 
for  the  singing  of  the  nightingales  and  the  soft  chiming 
of  distant  bells.  We  sat  a  long  time  in  the  old  window 
seats,  talking  in  low  tones.  The  captain  of  the  Christ 
Church  Cricket  Club,  the  president  of  the  Magdalen 
Boat  Club,  the  cockswain  of  the  Magdalen  eight.  Bur- 


STUDENT  LIFE  AT  OXFORD  271 

rows,  and  myself  made  up  the  party.  We  listened  to 
the  old  Tom  ringing  at  nine  o'clock.  They  told  college 
stories,  and  from  them  I  learned  much  of  the  inner  life 
of  Oxford,  on  the  whole  rather  creditable. 

Walking  home  with  Burrows,  he  began  to  hurry  and 
said  a  proctor  was  following  him  and  that  he  had  not 
on  a  gown  and  cap,  which  were  required  in  the  evening. 
When  we  came  to  the  corner  of  a  street  he  bade  me  a 
hurried  good-bye  and  ran  rapidly  off  at  full  speed.  He 
is  a  sprinter  and  a  half-mile  runner  and  doubtless  got 
safely  away.  To  have  obeyed  the  rules  he  should  have 
carried  his  cap  and  gown  into  Magdalen  Chapel,  which 
was  not  necessary  for  him  to  do  in  the  afternoon,  or  else 
have  gone  way  back  to  Trinity  betw^een  the  service 
and  dinner  at  Magdalen.  I  met  many  students  without 
caps  and  gowns;  I  should  think  nearly  one  third  were 
without  them,  and  yet  if  they  see  a  proctor  or  "bull- 
dog" they  have  to  run  for  dear  life. 

Monday,  May  22 

A  "cold"  or  ordinary  breakfast  —  that  is,  nothing 
brought  from  the  buttery  —  with  Dyer.  We  had,  how- 
ever, toast  and  tea  hot,  and  Dyer  made  some  hot 
scrambled  eggs  at  the  open  fire,  and  we  were  as  cozy 
as  cottagers  and  happy  as  kings.  The  younger  Story, 
Julian  (who  afterwards  married  Emma  Eames,  the 
opera  singer),  invited  me  to  breakfast,  but  I  had  an 
engagement  at  that  time.  The  engagement  was  to  meet 
Edward  Moss  at  Brasenose  in  his  room.  When  I  arrived 
he  was  out.  From  there  I  went  down  to  the  boat-houses 
and  had  a  talk  with  Salter  about  his  system  of  letting 
boats.  Fast  pleasure  boats  were  the  most  popular. 
Lunched  with  Waldo  Burnett  at  Keble.  E.  M.  Parker 
was  there,  and  after  lunch  Viner,  who  is  on  the  Keble 


272     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

boat,  came  in.  From  his  account  the  Keble  crew  were 
more  Hmited  in  their  diet  than  we  were  in  '72,  '73,  and 
'74 ;  about  as  strict  as  we  were  in  the  freshman  crew  in 
'71.  It  was  raining  for  the  first  time  since  I  have  been  in 
Oxford  this  afternoon,  but  cleared  off  in  time  for  the 
races.  In  the  second  division  there  was  a  close  and 
exciting  race  between  Trinity  and  Lincoln.  Trinity  just 
succeeded  in  making  the  bump  only  a  few  feet  before 
it  would  have  been  too  late,  as  Lincoln  was  close  to  the 
finish. 

A  four-oar  row  down  the  river  had  been  arranged  for 
me.  Jupp  and  Darbyshire,  the  nephew  of  the  cele- 
brated late  University  stroke  oar  of  that  name,  went 
with  us.  We  left  our  boat  under  one  of  the  long  bridges 
and  walked  to  the  start  of  the  first  division.  The  boats 
were  kept  in  position  by  long  poles  held  by  water-men 
from  the  shore  and  also  by  a  cord  held  by  the  cockswain. 
The  Oriel  crew  had  been  bumped  every  night  for  several 
nights  running,  and  the  men  were  thoroughly  demor- 
alized. They  tried  to  appear  calm,  but  they  were  evi- 
dently very  nervous.  They  lose  their  heads  as  soon  as 
they  start  and  have  not  once  got  through  the  "Gut" 
before  being  bumped,  so  that  Hall,  their  cockswain,  the 
famous  one  who  steered  the  Oxford  four  against  Har- 
vard in  '69  and  almost  won  the  race  for  Oxford  in  '70 
by  sheer  good  steering,  had  no  chance  to  show  his 
powers. 

Dined  at  Balliol  Hall.  After  dinner  Arnold,  Smith, 
McMillan,  and  others  came  to  Dyer's  room.  McMillan 
gave  a  rendering  of  "Hamlet"  after  the  style  of  Irving. 
Very  well  done.  He  also  acted  a  small  piece  called  "The 
French  Schoolmaster."  It  was  in  broken  English  and 
very  touching.  Its  point  lay  in  its  human  pathos  and 
the  fine  sense  of  honor  in  the  Frenchman.  When  it  was 


THE  ENGLISH  CLEVIATE  AND  EXERCISE        273 

over,  H ,  a  rather  conceited  fellow,  assuming  great 

innocence  asked,  "Where  is  the  point?"  His  remark 
fell  very  flat,  for  it  struck  all  as  extremely  rude. 

Tuesday,  May  23 

I  BREAKFASTED  at  Christ  Church  with  Douglas  Rob- 
inson, of  St.  Paul's  School  (Concord,  New  Hampshire), 
and  we  had  Russell  also  who  had  been  there,  so  there 
was  a  good  deal  of  old  school-day  talk.  (Douglas  Rob- 
inson afterwards  married  Theodore  Roosevelt's  sister  ; 
he  died  in  1918.)  We  visited  the  Christ  Church  kitchen 
and  the  old  Tom  and  saw  Dr.  Johnson's  desk  at  Pem- 
broke College,  the  Oxford  gymnasium,  and  the  Martyrs' 
Iron  Cross.  The  gymnasium  is  not  free.  There  are  al- 
ways persons  present  to  watch  the  exercising  and  con- 
trol the  amount  and  kind  of  work  done  by  each  man. 
Prizes  are  given  every  year.  The  gymnasium  is  not 
generally  popular.  Outdoor  work  is  preferred  by  most 
of  the  men.  The  English  climate  is  wonderfully  adapted 
for  exercising  and  even  forces  it.  Seldom  is  the  weather 
cold  enough  to  keep  one  indoors,  and  yet  it  is  usually 
chilly  enough  to  be  uncomfortable  if  one  sits  still  in  the 
open  air. 

Stopped  in  at  Richard  P.  Arnold's  room,  which  is 
directly  under  mine,  and  he  played  charmingly  for  me. 
He  offered  to  give  me  a  letter  to  a  great  friend  of  his  at 
Cambridge,  where  I  am  going  next. 

I  lunched  with  Professor  Burrows  and  went  off  with 
him  to  the  Convocation.  The  subject  of  discussion  that 
created  the  most  interest  was  the  question  of  removing 
the  botanical  gardens.  It  had  been  the  idea  of  Dr.  Ack- 
land,  who  unfortunately  was  away,  to  have  all  the  scien- 
tific departments  together,  his  reason  being  that  science 
is  a  unit  and  ought  to  be  studied  as  such.  The  answer 


274     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

was  that  the  present  ground  was  richer  and  better  suited 
for  the  botanical  gardens  than  the  proposed  plot.  There 
was  some  other  question  of  rent  also,  and  some  did  not 
see  why  having  the  buildings  together  made  the  teach- 
ing any  more  unified.  Professor  Palmer,  brother  of  Lord 
Selborne,  was  there  and  spoke  very  much  to  the  point. 
Burrows  told  me  that  it  was  said  of  Professor  Palmer 
that  he  should  have  been  the  lawyer  and  Lord  Chan- 
cellor and  that  Sir  Roundell  Palmer,  now  Lord  Sel- 
borne, the  professor  and  the  clergyman.  The  Vice- 
Chancellor  of  Oxford  presided.  All  present  wore  gowns, 
some  of  them  of  a  pattern  six  hundred  years  old. 

Two  proctors  were  present  who  called  "Silence"  in 
a  severe  voice,  stood  when  the  Vice-Chancellor  spoke, 
and  collected  the  "placets"  and  "non-placets."  Pro- 
fessor Price,  the  mathematician,  spoke  a  good  deal.  Pro- 
fessor Smith  got  very  excited  over  the  idea  of  having 
iron  spikes  on  the  walls  of  the  botanical  gardens.  He 
thought  it  a  great  cruelty.  What  right  had  they  to  risk 
life  in  that  way?  Suppose  some  one  should  try  to  climb 
over  and  get  caught  .^^  This  was  brought  in  somewhat 
out  of  order  and  mal  a  propos.  A  hint  to  that  effect  only 
made  the  professor  more  disquieted  about  the  spikes. 
He  was  restless  and  uneasy  for  the  rest  of  the  meeting. 
Dean  Lightfoot  is  Vice-Chancellor. 

After  Convocation  I  went  through  Magdalen  Walk 
and  Addison's  Walk  and  then  to  tea  at  Dr.  Talbot's, 
the  warden  of  Keble  College.  (He  was  afterwards  made 
Bishop  of  Winchester.)  There  I  met  Warden  and  Mrs. 
Talbot  and  Miss  Gladstone,  the  daughter  of  the  "  Grand 
Old  Man."  Mrs.  Talbot  is  sister  of  Lady  Frederick 
Cavendish.  It  was  very  kind  of  them  to  ask  me,  for 
they  were  in  mourning  for  Mrs.  Talbot's  father,  the 
late  Lord  Lyttelton.    I  spent  a  very  delightful  hour 


ROWING  275 

there.  Mrs.  Talbot  is  very  pretty,  jolly,  and  bright. 
They  spoke  with  regret  about  my  father's  not  coming  to 
England  as  Minister,  as,  in  fact,  almost  every  one  does. 
Went  out  rowing  in  a  four-oar  tub  with  sliding  seats. 
The  president  of  the  Magdalen  Boat  Club  went  out 
with  us.  They  made  me  row  stroke.  I  was  sorry  that 
I  was  not  in  better  condition,  for  I  saw  that  I  was  com- 
mitting faults  which  I  rarely  did  at  home,  merely  from 
being  out  of  "swing"  and  "wind."  I  felt,  too,  that 
they  were  criticizing  me  all  the  way.  They  told  me  that 
if  I  could  wait  a  few  days  more,  when  the  races  were 
over,  they  would  get  up  some  nice  crews  to  row  with 
me,  but  that  now  almost  every  good  oarsman  was  in 
one  or  the  other  of  the  twenty -one  college  eights.  I 
dined  with  Standish  and  Dyer  in  Standish's  room. 
"VMiile  on  the  river-bank  I  passed  by  and  had  pointed 
out  to  me  the  bow  of  this  year's  'Varsity  crew  walking 
past.  He  was  not  quite  so  tall  as  Tucker  Daland,  who 
rowed  port  bow  in  the  Harvard  crew  of  '73,  and  not  so 
squarely  built.   He  looked  like  a  plucky  fellow. 

Wednesday,  May  24 

At  half -past  eight  I  breakfasted  in  Dyer's  room  with  the 
Balliol  crew.  They  were  a  fine  set  of  men,  all  good 
students,  for  no  one  can  enter  or  keep  in  Balliol  without 
being  one.  They  were  all  tall  and  manly  and  had  a 
healthy  color  in  their  cheeks.  Their  breakfast,  which 
was  of  course  a  training  one  as  the  crew  had  one  more 
day  of  racing,  consisted  of  tea,  dry  toast,  butter,  bread, 
mutton  chops,  dropped  eggs,  beefsteak,  plain  lettuce, 
and  artichokes,  and  they  ended  up  with  orange  mar- 
malade, of  which  they  partook  an  abundance.  They 
said  almost  all  the  Oxford  crews  used  it.  The  Balliol 
crew  does  not  take  oatmeal  porridge  as  do  most  of  the 


276     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

others  at  Oxford.  I  found  that  one  of  the  crew  had  been 
in  Fayal  last  winter  and  there  met  my  dear  classmate 
and  old  friend,  Howard  Lombard.  They  became  cronies 
and  mutual  admirers  at  once.  Some  five  of  us  sat  on 
and  talked  together  till  half -past  ten. 

Bought  a  set  of  examination  papers.  Dyer  took  me 
to  the  Taylorian  library  and  gallery.  In  the  gallery  was 
a  fine  collection  of  Turner's  pictures  and  the  best  in  the 
world  of  Raphael's  original  drawings.  There  were  also 
some  things  of  Michael  Angelo.  I  lunched  with  Richard 
Arnold  in  his  rooms  at  Balliol.  He  had  there  two  cous- 
ins, one  a  Mrs.  Humphry  Ward  who  played  very  well 
on  the  piano.  We  had  some  songs,  too:  "O,  Hush 
Thee,  My  Babie,"  by  Sullivan;  "Softly  Blow,  Ye 
Breezes,"  by  Elvy,  and  some  of  Schubert's.  Many  puz- 
zles were  asked  like  this  one,  for  example :  if  six  cats  kill 
six  rats  in  six  minutes,  how  many  cats  will  it  take  to  kill 
one  hundred  rats  in  fifty  minutes .f'  Mrs.  Ward  was 
also  at  the  Talbots'  yesterday.  (This  was  six  years 
before  Mrs.  Ward  had  published  anything  of  note  and 
twelve  years  before  her  famous  "Robert  Elsmere"  came 
out.  As  I  was  revising  these  journals  for  publication 
I  wrote  Mrs.  Ward  to  find  whether  it  were  she,  her 
sister,  or  her  cousin  that  sang  the  songs,  and  what  had 
become  of  him.  Weeks  passed  without  any  reply,  and 
on  March  24,  1920,  I  learned  the  reason  for  all  the 
silence.  The  papers  of  that  evening  announced  her 
death,  after  a  serious  illness.) 

Went  to  Bishop  Mylne's  rooms  at  three  o'clock  by 
appointment.  The  Bishop  looked  tired  and  thin;  not, 
I  fear,  in  a  state  of  vigor  to  begin  life  in  an  unhealthy 
climate.  He  had  just  been  appointed  Bishop  to  Bom- 
bay. He  was  one  of  our  clergymen  of  the  Advent  Church 
in  Boston,  a  wholesome-minded,  devout,  and  delight- 


BISHOP  MYLNE  277 

ful  man  and  a  convincing  and  inspiring  preacher.  He 
took  me  over  the  chapel  of  Keble,  at  which  college  he 
was  staying.  A  representation  of  Christ  above  the 
chancel  with  a  huge  sword  proceeding  out  of  his  mouth, 
intended  to  represent  the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  did  not 
seem  to  me  in  good  taste.  It  was  absurdly  realistic.  It 
gives  cause  for  ridicule  rather  than  devotion.  The 
mosaics  were  superb.  There  was,  however,  very  little 
harmony,  taking  them  all  together,  and  so  numerous 
were  the  little  designs,  mostly  good  in  themselves,  and 
so  closely  were  they  put  together  that  there  was  no 
general  Impression  whatsoever,  as  in  some  of  the  har- 
monies of  mosaics,  for  example,  in  the  cathedral  at 
Palermo.  The  shape  of  the  building  did  not  seem  to  me 
good  either;  it  was  that  of  a  tall,  rectangular  barn. 

I  walked  down  High  Street  with  Bishop  Mylne  at 
racing  speed.  He  has  so  much  to  do  that  he  walks 
ventre  a  terre  all  the  time.  He  was  on  his  way  to  see  a 
student  from  Keble  who  is  dangerously  ill.  Bishop 
Mylne  told  me  that  he  made  use  of  every  moment  when 
awake;  for  example,  he  sometimes  coaches  the  crews, 
having  been  a  celebrated  oarsman  in  his  college  eight, 
and  while  waiting  for  the  crew  at  the  college  barge 
he  would  write  letters.  He  seems  more  American  in 
this  "hurry  up"  than  English.  He  may  have  been 
touched  by  "the  whip  of  the  sky"  while  in  our  Boston. 

Went  to  the  Bodleian  Library  and  Divinity  Hall.  It 
rained  intermittently  in  torrents  for  about  two  hours. 
I  saw  the  medal  won  by  Hampden,  with  the  following 
lines  on  it: 

"Against  my  King  I  do  not  fight, 
But  for  my  King  and  Kingdom's  right." 

What  a  splendid  sentiment! 


278     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

I  also  saw  the  first  Latin  and  first  English  Bibles  ever 
printed,  the  manuscript  of  Burns's  "To  a  Louse,"  an  au- 
tograph of  Archbishop  Laud,  Laud's  resignation  of  the 
chancellorship  written  from  the  Tower,  letters  of  Hen- 
rietta Maria  to  Charles  I  before  their  marriage,  and  the 
lantern  found  in  Guy  Fawkes's  hand  when  trying  to  blow 
up  Parliament.  These  were  perhaps  the  most  striking 
things  I  noticed  among  hundreds  of  others. 

They  told  me  the  story  of  the  last  librarian  who  had 
made  a  new  catalogue,  complete  for  every  book  but  the 
one  nearest  him,  which  he  was  sitting  on  all  the  time. 

Law  enforcement  here  is  peculiar.  In  case  a  student 
at  Oxford  gets  into  any  legal  difficulty,  instead  of  being 
tried  in  a  police  or  public  court,  he  is  tried  in  a  room  at 
the  entrance  of  the  Convocation  Hall  before  the  Vice- 
Chancellor  of  the  University. 

I  dined  with  William  Henry  Russell,  of  Oriel,  a 
former  St.  Paul's  School  boy,  as  I  have  already  stated, 
in  his  room.  He  lives  out  of  college,  which  is  rather  ex- 
ceptional. He  explained  to  me  the  system  of  living  out. 
Students  can  only  live  out  in  those  houses  licensed  by 
the  authorities  of  the  University.  The  owner  of  the 
house  has  to  lock  his  outside  door  before  ten  o'clock  and 
keep  an  accurate  list  of  the  number  of  times  a  boarder 
comes  in  after  ten  and  the  exact  hour  he  returns.  In 
case  the  owner  omits  to  do  this,  his  license  is  taken  away. 
Any  successful  collusion  between  the  houseowner  and 
students  is  almost  impossible,  as  students  are  occasion- 
ally watched  by  proctors,  and  then,  too,  a  man's  name 
is  often  taken  down  when  leaving  a  room  not  his  own 
after  ten  o'clock  and  if  there  is  not  a  corresponding 
entry  at  his  lodging  the  omission  is  quickly  discovered. 

Met  again  Douglas  Robinson, 


BREAKFAST  AT  KEBLE  279 

Thursday,  May  25 

I  WENT  to  the  early  communion  service  at  Keble  at 
seven  and  a  haK  and  after  that  breakfasted  with  Bishop 
Myhie  and  the  warden,  professors,  and  tutors  of  Keble. 
Father  Benson  came  in  late.  I  came  in  with  Bishop 
Mylne  and  he  wished  me  to  sit  next  the  warden  in  the 
seat  of  honor.  I  protested  and  the  warden  very  rightly 
did  not  allow  it,  but  made  the  Bishop,  who  is  now  no 
longer  directly  connected  with  the  college  and  is  in  the 
position  of  a  guest,  take  it  himself.  After  breakfast 
I  went  to  see  Canon  Bright  whom  I  have  missed  so  far, 
and  who  had  asked  me  to  breakfast  with  him  to-day, 
hoping  to  see  him,  but  the  servant  told  me  he  had  just 
gone  out  to  service.  I  then  started  back  to  Keble  to 
hear  Bishop  Mylne  preach  his  last  sermon  at  Oxford 
before  leaving  for  Bombay.  He  had  especially  asked  me 
to  come  and  hear  him.  On  the  way  I  met  the  Chan- 
cellor preceded  by  three  squire  beadles  dressed  in  red 
and  carrying  enormous  maces,  marching  along  with 
a  great  deal  of  the  pomp  of  this  wicked  world.  Two 
students,  half  dressed,  as  he  was  walking  by,  put  their 
heads  out  of  their  bedroom  windows  and  said:  "Hollo, 
this  must  be  some  saint's  day."  It  was,  in  fact.  As- 
cension Day. 

At  Keble  I  found  the  chapel  door  locked  and  a  service 
going  on  inside.  I  made  several  attempts  to  open  the 
door,  causing  sufficient  noise  to  attract  the  attention 
of  the  door-keeper.  I  made  three  trials,  each  a  little 
louder  than  the  other.  I  should  much  have  preferred 
to  give  up  the  task,  but  I  wished  my  friend  to  know  that 
I  had  cared  to  come  and  hear  him.  After  the  third  at- 
tempt, with  a  slight  shake  of  the  door,  I  heard  several 
feet  advancing  from  inside  and  the  door  being  un- 
fastened.   Then,  when  I  was  let  in,  I  found  that  two 


280     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

proctors  in  full  costume  had  descended  from  their  seats 
and  were  looking  very  anxious  as  if  they  expected  to 
hear  that  the  building  was  on  fire  or  that  some  one  was 
leaving  this  life.  Nor  was  that  all.  There  were  at  least 
thirty  pairs  of  eyes  looking  at  me.  I  thanked  the 
proctors,  made  them  a  bow,  walked  by  and  took  my 
seat  in  as  quiet,  dignified,  and  matter-of-fact  way  as 
I  could.  I  noticed  that  as  they  shut  the  doors  the  least 
sound  reverberated  along  the  stone  mosaic  floor  and 
walls  of  the  chapel,  whose  main  fault  as  a  chapel  was 
its  too  abundant  echoes.  So  I  had  the  pleasant  assur- 
ance that  every  one  in  the  building  had  heard  my  gentle 
"tapping  at  the  door."  All  the  students  wore  white 
surplices  during  service.  The  sermon  was  good,  both 
earnest  and  intellectual. 

Lunched  with  Dicey.  We  visited  the  Ashmolean 
Museum,  where  I  saw,  among  other  things,  the  jewel 
which  is  authentically  the  one  worn  by  Alfred  the 
Great  in  his  crown.  We  saw  also  the  sword  given  by 
Pope  Leo  X  to  Henry  VIII  as  "Defender  of  the  Faith.'* 

Rowed  down  the  river  in  a  four-oar  through  Ij6Bey 
Lock,  as  far  as  the  Swan  Inn,  if  I  recollect  the  name 
aright,  where  we  got  out  and  pitched  quoits.  The  great 
jumper  Glazebrook  rowed  with  us.  Two  years  ago  he 
made  the  highest  amateur  running  jump  on  record. 
His  jump  has  recently  been  beaten  by  another  Oxford 
man  named  Brooks,  who  broke  professional  records 
and  all,  jumping  in  a  match  six  feet,  two  and  one  half 
inches.  Glazebrook  gave  me  some  useful  hints  about 
running  jumping. 

In  the  evening  dined  in  Balliol  Hall  with  Dyer  and 
later  went  to  the  Balliol  eight  wine,  that  is,  a  jollifica- 
tion given  in  honor  of  the  Balliol  crew,  which  had  made 
three  bumps  this  year  and  holds  a  good  place  on  the 


THE  BALLIOL  EIGHT  WINE  281 

river,  so  there  was  a  lot  of  enthusiasni  and  the  place 
crowded.  The  college  authorities  gave  up  one  of  the 
reception  or  lecture  halls  for  it.  Every  member  of  the 
crew,  cockswain  included,  was  toasted  separately.  The 
toasts  were  drunk  mostly  in  champagne.  The  answers 
to  the  toasts  were  not  particularly  bright  and  witty, 
but  were  manly,  good-natured,  and  modest.  They  had 
no  little  singing,  usually  calling  for  a  song  as  well  as 
a  speech,  and  all  joined  in  after  each  toast  with  the 
refrain  "  For  He  is  a  Jolly  Good  Fellow."  They  took 
me  in  as  one  of  themselves  and  called  on  me  for  a  Har- 
vard song.  They  knew  I  was  a  Harvard  'Varsity  stroke 
oar  and  captain  and  had  followed  their  crews  every  day 
I  had  rooms  in  Balliol.  I  was  puzzled  for  a  moment 
what  to  choose.  "Fair  Harvard"  is  dull,  and  most  of 
those  we  used  to  sing  were  more  distinctive  of  negro 
minstrels  than  of  Harvard.  At  last  I  bethought  me 
of  "The  Lone  Fish  Ball,"  which  was  generously  ap- 
plauded. As  an  encore  I  gave  "Louisiana  Lowlands," 
which  did  not  take  as  well.  They  then  toasted  the 
United  States  and  asked  me  to  respond.  I  said  in  gen- 
eral that  it  is  now  the  centennial  of  the  disturbance 
between  the  two  countries,  but  that  such  kindness  as  I 
had  received  here  at  Oxford,  and  indeed  all  over  Eng- 
land, and  from  them  in  particular,  was  of  a  kind,  if 
extended  to  others  also,  to  make  firm  friends  of  the 
two  nations,  which  have  a  common  language,  common 
literature,  common  laws,  common  customs  and  liber- 
ties, and  a  high  sense  of  national  character  and  re- 
sponsibility. "Wliat  these  two  might  do  as  co-workers 
for  the  peace  and  well-being  of  the  rest  of  the  world 
was  almost  incalculable.  These  few  words  apparently 
pleased  them,  as  they  were  followed  up  with  "For  He 
is  a  Jolly  Good  Fellow."    Was  this  not  "just  awfully 


282    HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

nice"  of  them?  They  had  the  good  sense  to  break  up 
the  meeting  before  things  began  to  drag.  There  was 
a  good  deal  of  drinking,  but  no  one  seemed  more  af- 
fected than  to  be  shghtly  talkative.  There  was,  how- 
ever, more  drinking  afterwards  in  some  of  the  private 
rooms.  (As  I  look  over  my  notes  and  cards  received 
at  Oxford,  I  see  I  have  had  more  invitations  and  calls 
from  faculty  and  students  than  I  have  mentioned.  They 
simply  showered  me  with  acts  of  kindness.) 

I  had  long  known  of  the  Oxford-Cambridge  system  of 
examinations  and  the  better  feeling  and  greater  friend- 
liness that  is  supposed  to  exist  on  that  account  between 
the  students  and  the  faculty. 

With  us  in  America  the  instructor  is  the  examiner. 
He  is  the  man  who  may  cut  off  the  student  from  his 
degree,  condition  him,  or  lose  him  a  high  mark.  In 
an  English  university,  on  the  other  hand,  examina- 
tions are  set  by  committees  of  the  university  while  the 
college  instructor,  be  he  tutor  or  professor,  is  the 
friend  of  the  student  who  is  helping  him  to  pass  an  ex- 
amination set  by  others.  With  us  to  be  on  familiar 
terms  with  the  instructor  is  supposed  by  fellow-students 
to  be  bidding  for  lenient  marks  and  not  to  be  good  form. 
How  is  it  in  Oxford?  I  find  all  the  restraint  is  removed 
and  all  I  had  been  told  is  true  as  to  the  good  relations 
and  helpful,  stimulating  intimacy  between  teacher  and 
taught,  and  those  Oxford  men  who  had  previously  been 
at  Harvard,  and  whom  I  met,  believed  that  the  dif- 
ference is  due  almost  wholly  to  the  system  of  exam- 
inations. 

I  cannot  close  the  account  of  my  delightful  visit  at 
Oxford  without  speaking  of  the  easy  hospitality,  manli- 
ness, freedom  from  care,  even  happy-go-lucky  character 
of  the  men.    They  were  much  more  blithe,  jovial,  and 


FIRST  IMPRESSIONS  OF  CAMBRIDGE  283 

lightly  merry  than  our  Harvard  students,  who  take 
both  play  and  pleasure  more  seriously.  The  Oxford 
men,  too,  bore  defeat  good-naturedly.  Oxford  on  a 
bright  day  in  May  during  the  bumping  races,  with  all 
the  young  lady  visitors  and  its  spring  verdure,  is  at  its 
best.  The  hawthorns,  both  red  and  white,  the  chestnut- 
trees  in  bloom,  the  lilacs,  and  a  profusion  of  flowers 
and  flowering  shrubs,  the  silken  lawns,  the  many 
meadows,  the  winding  blue  river,  the  gray  or  red  spires 
or  towers  seen  through  masses  of  dense  foliage,  and  the 
odor  of  new-mown  grass,  and  sweet  flowers,  formed  the 
setting  of  these  days  for  the  triumph  of  youth  and 
beauty  and  simple  pleasure  "almost  unalloyed." 

Friday,  May  26 

In  the  morning  I  left  for  a  visit  at  Cambridge  Univer- 
sity by  way  of  London,  having  had  a  most  satisfactory, 
instructive,  and  delightful  visit  at  Oxford.  I  felt  almost 
as  if  I  had  been  a  student  there.  They  certainly  made 
me  seem  like  one  of  themselves  in  all  social  and  friendly 
relations.  At  Cambridge  all  the  hotels  were  chock  full, 
as  it  was  the  evening  of  the  grand  ball.  I  had  made  no 
arrangements  in  advance,  so  could  not  go.  They  gave 
me  rooms  outside  and  I  took  my  meals  at  the  hotel. 
Delivered  my  letters  and  on  coming  back  from  a  stroll 
I  found  an  invitation  to  breakfast  with  Herbert  Leaf, 
the  friend  of  Richard  Arnold. 

Cambridge  does  certainly  seem  dull  and  plain  after 
Oxford.  The  young  men  appear  a  little  less  well-bred. 
I  saw  a  number  sitting  on  a  fence  and  scrutinizing  some 
young  ladies  passing  by,  a  thing  which  I  never  saw 
either  at  Oxford  or  Harvard,  though  it  is  a  common 
enough  practice  at  a  certain  other  New  England  college. 


284     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

Saturday,  31  ay  27 

Breakfasted  with  Leaf  at  Trinity.  I  met  there  three 
or  four  very  charming  fellows,  among  others  William 
Bradford,  of  New  Orleans,  a  recent  graduate,  and 
Francis  H.  Mellor.  During  this  breakfast  Leaf  and 
Bradford  kindly  put  me  in  the  way  of  seeing  pretty 
much  all  that  was  going  on.  We  adjourned  to  Brad- 
ford's room  where  I  met  Francis  Peabody,  of  Salem, 
Massachusetts,  who  is  also  a  student  at  Trinity.  He 
and  Bradford  both  rowed  in  the  first  Trinity  eight  in 
the  recent  bumping  races  and  their  crew  stood  second 
on  the  river.  Peabody  was  on  the  winning  "trial  eight" 
and  missed  a  seat  on  the  University  crew  on  account  of 
a  temporary  illness.  Bradford  took  me  to  see  a  cricket 
match  between  the  Cambridge  eleven  and  the  Surrey 
Club  The  match  was  rather  uninteresting  as  Cam- 
bridge had  it  pretty  much  all  its  own  way.  Leaf  was 
batting  part  of  the  time  I  was  there.  The  fielding  of  the 
Surrey  Club  was  bad  enough  to  rank  them  third  rate 
in  basebalL  The  batting  and  bowling,  however,  were 
good. 

There  was  a  running-track  made  of  rolled  ashes  round 
the  cricket  ground.  This  was  a  new  idea.  We  passed 
the  racket-court,  skating-rink,  dissecting-rooms,  and 
physical  and  chemical  laboratories  on  our  way  back. 
Lunched  with  Bradford  and  then  we  went  rowing  to- 
gether in  a  pair-oar  tub  down  to  the  first  lock,  Baits- 
bite's.   Lovely  day,  and  a  good  time. 

The  boat-houses  in  Cambridge  are  more  like  ours  at 
Harvard,  built  of  wood  or  stone  and  on  the  river-bank. 
They  are  all,  but  that  of  the  first  Trinity,  very  plain, 
ugly  buildings  and  there  are  no  pretty  trees  nor  shrubs 
by  the  river,  nor  barges  as  at  Oxford.  Many  of  the  toilet 
and  sewage  arrangements  in  these  beautiful  colleges 


ENGLISH  WAGES  285 

are  of  a  strictly  mediaeval  character.  The  river  is  not 
fit  for  swimming,  and  woe  to  both  bright  blazers  and 
white  trousers  in  case  of  an  upset.  Took  a  drive  with 
Bradford  and  Peabody  in  a  cab  to  Girton  and  back, 
leaving  Peabody  to  return  later.  I  saw  the  new  build- 
ings for  the  young  ladies'  college  there.  I  dined  with 
Bradford  at  Trinity,  who  has  been  quite  devoted  to  me. 
Bless  his  heart,  for  he  is  a  dear,  kind,  warm-hearted 
Southerner!  The  guests  were  Gibbs,  whose  father  is 
governor  of  the  Bank  of  England,  Lehmann,  Penrose, 
and  Gridley,  an  Eton  fellow.  Peabody  dropped  in 
later  —  a  jolly  crowd  and  a  jolly  time! 

Sunday,  May  28 

Breakfasted  late  with  Frank  Peabody,  where  I  met  a 
number  of  men,  Haddon,  Lehmann,  Penrose,  Alexander, 
Corbatt,  Jameson,  and  Rodwald,  all  bright,  cheerful, 
and  hospitable.  In  the  middle  of  the  day  dined  with 
Mr.  A.  Marshall,  a  professor  at  St.  John's  College.  I 
had  a  letter  to  him  from  President  Eliot.  Dined  at 
the  dons'  table  in  high  style  on  a  dais  and  had  some 
rare  old  wine  for  which  their  cellar  is  noted.  Some  of 
the  dons  were  agreeable  and  many  no  doubt  very 
learned,  but  they  did  not  converse  particularly  well 
and  some  of  them  certainly  were  not  refined  in  their 
table  manners.  We  adjourned  to  the  Convocation 
room  for  coffee. 

I  got  Mr.  Marshall  talking  on  the  labor  question, 
which  he  has  particularly  studied  in  the  United  States. 
He  said  that  after  most  careful  examination  he  did 
not  find  that  our  laborers  were  paid  much,  if  any,  more 
than  the  English,  when  one  deducts  the  difference  be- 
tween paper,  in  which  the  Americans  are  paid,  and  gold, 
which  the  Englishman  gets,  and  also  the  difference  in 


286     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

the  cost  of  living.  That  is,  based  on  real  wages,  there 
was  but  very  little  difference.  It  seemed  rather  a  star- 
tling statement.  He  made  most  of  his  studies  two  years 
ago  before  the  cost  of  labor  had  declined  very  much 
and  he  seems  to  have  worked  diligently  and  impar- 
tially. 

We  went  to  afternoon  chapel.  All  the  students  of  this 
college,  St.  John's,  have  to  attend  service  twice  a  day 
and  wear  surplices.  The  anthem,  "Who  is  the  King 
of  Glory?"  by  Handel,  was  superbly  sung.  Quite  thrill- 
ing. 

I  dined  with  Mellor,  son  of  Justice  Sir  John  Mellor, 
in  the  hall  of  Trinity  College.  The  hall  is  the  best  in 
Cambridge  and  better  than  any  I  saw  at  Oxford.  I  went 
to  his  room  afterwards  and  about  nine  we  adjourned 
to  the  room  of  Professor  Gibbons,  who  was  musical. 
There  we  had  lots  of  singing  and  playing,  all  of  the  most 
classical  style.  There  I  met  Mr.  Rawlins,  to  whom  Mr. 
James  Russell  Lowell  gave  me  a  letter  and  who  was  so 
kind  to  me  last  summer  on  many  occasions.  Mellor 
took  me  to  walk  through  "the  Backs"  and  along 
Fortification  Walk  to  hear  the  nightingales  sing.  We 
heard  but  one,  which  sang  but  for  a  few  moments.  That 
song,  however,  was  delicious,  only  tantalizing,  as  it 
stopped  so  soon.  Fortunately,  I  had  heard  some  of 
these  noted  birds  early  this  morning  about  four  or 
five  o'clock,  and  also  at  Oxford.  "The  Backs"  are  to 
me  one  of  the  most  beautiful  things  in  Cambridge  and 
quite  superior  to  any  one  thing  in  Oxford.  As  everybody 
knows,  it  is  a  river  that  goes  on  the  back  side  of  some  of 
the  handsomest  of  the  colleges  with  steep,  wooded,  and 
bushy  banks  and  lovely  walks  that  invite  one  to  sit 
and  stroll  and  muse,  while  the  odor  of  flowers,  the  bril- 
liant coloring  from  the  deep,  almost  black  greens  to  the 


SEEING  CAMBRIDGE  287 

bright  red  and  white  flowering  shrubs  and  the  emerald 
green  grass,  give  altogether  something  which  I  have 
never  seen  anywhere  else. 

Monday,  May  29 

Breakfasted  with  Bradford  and  then  met  Mitchell, 
number  five  of  the  winning  'Varsity  of  this  year.  He 
is  unusually  bright  and  would  be  a  fine  scholar  as  well 
as  rowing  man  with  a  little  more  application,  I  am  told. 
I  was  rather  disappointed  in  not  finding  the  'Varsity 
oarsmen  larger  men.  Mitchell,  who  is  quite  a  noted 
oar,  is  no  taller  than  I  and  no  broader,  though  perhaps 
a  little  thicker-set,  and  not  nearly  as  large  and  strong  as 
either  Bacon  or  Goodwin,  to  say  nothing  of  Taylor  on 
the  Harvard  crew  in  1874,  which  was  the  heaviest  on 
which  I  rowed.  Indeed,  I  was  the  next  to  the  lightest 
man  on  the  University  that  year.  After  breakfast  we 
visited  the  Corpus  Christi  College  court  with  its  notedly 
thick  ivy,  St.  Peter's  or  Peterhouse  Chapel,  the  oldest 
college  in  Cambridge,  with  its  very  fine  stained-glass 
windows  of  the  modern  school,  though  for  my  part  I 
rather  like  the  ancient  better,  and  the  Fitzwilliam 
Museum  all  in  the  Grecian  style,  with  its  gorgeous 
marble  hall  and  fine  collection  of  Turner's  pictures  and 
casts  from  the  best  statuary  in  the  world.  The  museum 
is  open  to  the  public  on  Wednesday  and  slippers  are 
kept  on  hand  for  the  rustics  to  wear  so  they  will  not 
injure  the  finely  polished  stone  mosaic  floors  with  their 
hobnails. 

Went  over  the  Cavendish  chemical  and  physical 
laboratory,  named  after  the  Duke  of  Devonshire  who 
has  endowed  it  handsomely.  Mr.  Garnett,  to  whom 
Mr.  Marshall  gave  me  a  note,  took  me  over.  All  the 
nails  and  other  work  usually  of  iron  were  made  of  copper 


288    HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

near  the  magnetic  and  electric  departments  and  every 
room  is  furnished  with  stands  for  tables  entirely  inde- 
pendent of  the  floors.  The  supports  for  these  stands 
rest  on  solid  beams  running  directly  up  from  the 
foundations.  In  this  way,  walking  about  the  building 
does  not  disturb  the  most  careful  and  delicate  experi- 
ment. Much  of  the  apparatus  has  not  yet  arrived,  but 
all  that  has  is  of  the  very  highest  order. 

Lunched  with  my  classmate  William  T.  Piper,  of  Har- 
vard, who  is  taking  post-graduate  work  at  this  English 
university,  and  there  met  Frank  Peabody  again  and  a 
Mr.  Thornton,  a  son  of  the  English  Minister  to  Amer- 
ica, Sir  Edward  Thornton.  Peabody  told  me  he  is  going 
to  practice  law  in  America,  probably  in  Boston. 

I  went  to  the  Pitt  Club  at  two-thirty  and  down  the 
river  at  four.  The  Pitt  Club  is  not  political  and  is  not 
an  eating  or  drinking  club,  but  intended  simply  to  fur- 
nish a  place  to  write  and  read  that  is  more  select  than 
the  Union,  which  latter  is  virtually  open  to  all  who  wish 
to  belong. 

On  the  river  I  rowed  in  a  four-oar  with  Close,  an 
old  'Varsity  oar  who  coached  this  year's  successful  crew 
on  the  Thames.  He  stroked  our  boat.  Penrose,  stroke 
of  Trinity,  was  behind  him,  and  Bradford  behind  me. 
Penrose  and  Close  are  on  the  four-oar  going  to  Phila- 
delphia from  Trinity  College  for  the  great  regatta  at 
the  Centennial  Exhibition.  Their  stroke  is  somewhat 
longer  than  that  rowed  at  Oxford,  just  the  reverse  of 
the  state  of  affairs  a  few  years  ago.  They  do  not  snatch 
so  quickly  from  the  water,  which  is  becoming  a  great 
fault  at  Oxford.  It  is  very  well  to  correct  that  fault,  but 
I  think  the  Cambridge  men  are  overdoing  the  correction, 
reaching  too  far  forward  and  going  too  far  back.  It  is 
proved  to  absolute  demonstration,  that  going  back  be- 


DINNER  WITH  R.  C.  LEHIVIANN  289 

yond  a  certain  point  is  wasted  motion,  requiring  great 
effort  in  the  recovery.  The  Trinity  pair-oars  were  out 
practicing  for  the  championship  of  the  college.  Trinity 
has  six  hundred  undergraduate  members  in  all,  so  its 
races  are  quite  good.  They  got  coaching  all  the  way. 
Had  a  good  shower  bath  after  our  row. 

The  Trinity  boat-house  has  hand  basins  and  shower 
baths,  two  large  dressing-rooms  and  a  reading-room, 
but  no  lockers,  strange  to  say.  I  dined  with  R.  C.  Leh- 
mann,  of  Trinity,  who  has  very  handsome  rooms,  with 
rich,  old  furniture,  dark  hangings,  and  all  in  good  taste. 
The  dinner  was  rather  too  elaborate,  I  thought,  for 
college.  It  was  a  regular  London  one,  with  all  its  courses, 
servants,  wines,  flowers,  and  fruits.  Sturgis,  son  of 
Russell  Sturgis,  of  London,  Frank  Peabody,  Foster 
(who  afterward  married  Lehmann's  sister).  Ward,  Gibbs, 
Denman,  Bradford,  Grey,  Cole,  and  three  or  four  others 
were  there.  I  sang  some  songs  to  the  guitar.  They  par- 
ticularly liked  "Louisiana  Lowlands"  and  made  me 
repeat  it  in  Sturgis's  room,  where  we  adjourned  for  tea, 
and  delicious  tea  it  was  too!  J.  P.  Penrose  came  in 
later  and  sang  a  good  deal.  He  has  a  fine  voice  and  sang 
with  sentiment.  He  is  very  popular  and  being  Irish 
takes  his  popularity  well.  During  the  singing  a  proc- 
tor's servant  appeared  and  handed  Sturgis  a  printed 
notice  as  to  the  rules  of  the  music  hours,  it  being  then 
past  the  time  allowed.  The  fellows  did  not  mind  it  at 
all.  I  left  soon,  for  fear  they  were  keeping  it  up  on 
my  account.  Grey  is  six  feet  seven  inches  tall  and  is 
the  best  pianist  and  organist  in  Cambridge.  (Rudolph 
Chambers  Lehmann,  who  gave  the  dinner,  was  after- 
wards an  editor  of  London  "Punch,"  of  the  "Daily 
News,"  a  member  of  Parliament,  and  for  two  years 
coach  of  the  Harvard  University  crew.    Though  he 


290     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

failed  to  win  a  race  for  Harvard  against  Yale,  he  did 
much  to  improve  the  good  feeling  and  to  better  the  ath- 
letic relations  between  those  two  colleges.) 

Tuesday,  May  30 

Breakfasted  with  Bradford,  who  had  a  "chap"  there 
named  James  Bradford  Mann,  who  is  on  the  Phila- 
delphia four,  and  I  went  to  several  of  the  colleges  and 
then  to  King's  Chapel  and  up  on  the  roof.  The  view 
from  there  was  perhaps  the  most  thoroughly  English 
that  I  have  yet  seen.  The  roundness  and  fullness  of  the 
trees,  the  brightness  of  the  grass,  the  narrow,  winding 
river,  the  rolling  country  with  hedgerows  by  the  roads, 
gave  an  impression  of  softness  and  peace  not  found  in 
Italy,  France,  Egypt,  Greece,  or  New  England.  The 
chapel  itself  was  grand  and  the  arches  upon  arches  of 
the  stone  roof  up  so  high  and  affording  each  other  com- 
mon support  excited  wonder,  surprise,  and  admiration. 
It  seemed  to  draw  the  spirit  upward  and  should,  if 
architecture  could  do  so,  raise  one  above  everything 
that  is  sordid  and  low. 

I  lunched  with  Professor  Henry  Sidgwick.  His  wife  is 
a  bluestocking,  really  a  great  mathematician.  She  is 
generally  quiet,  is  pale,  very  agreeable  in  conversation 
when  she  talks,  and  extremely  ladylike  in  her  manners. 
I  wonder  whether  her  genius  interferes  with  her  house- 
keeping? (She  was  made  principal  of  Newnham  College 
in  1892.  Her  brother  is  the  Rt.  Hon.  A.  J.  Balfour,  who 
in  1876  was  but  beginning  his  parliamentary  career.) 

I  went  to  the  rooms  of  a  fellow  of  King's  whom  I  met 
at  lunch  and  strolled  down  with  him  to  the  boats.  I  meas- 
ured some  of  the  fittings  of  the  eights  used  in  the  last 
races.  They  were  not  well  placed.  Many  of  the  row- 
locks were  too  high  and  too  near  the  seats,  measured 


THE  TRINITY  PAIR-OAR  RACES  291 

horizontally  and  to  the  middle  of  the  boat.  This  was 
not  only  my  individual  opinion,  as  different  from  our 
measurements  at  Harvard,  but  they  were  different  from 
those  of  the  Cambridge  University  crew.  I  went  down 
as  cockswain  to  a  pair-oar  tub,  with  the  remaining  two  of 
the  Trinity  four  that  is  going  to  America.  They  were 
not  large  fellows,  only  one  of  the  four  is  taller  than  I, 
Penrose,  Close,  and  I  did  running  high  jumps  for  beers. 
Close  beat  me  and  I  beat  Penrose.  They  said  I  really 
jumped  higher  than  Close,  but  did  not  know  how  to 
get  over  the  bar  in  the  right  way.  Perhaps  that  was 
just  their  manner  of  being  pleasant,  but  very  likely  they 
were  right  as  I  had  never  had  any  coaching  for  high 
jumping. 

To-day  they  rowed  the  Trinity  pair-oar  races.  Frank 
Peabody  and  his  partner,  Mann,  easily  won  against 
Lehmann  and  Hicks.  The  river  was  too  narrow  for  even 
two  boats  to  row  abreast,  so  the  boats  w^ent  in  a  straight 
line,  the  second  pair  enough  behind  not  to  be  affected 
by  the  wash  of  the  first.  They  were  started  by  the  firing 
of  a  pistol.  They  rowed  to  stakes  up  the  river  placed 
at  a  distance  apart  exactly  equal  to  that  between  the 
boats  at  starting.  A  man  was  placed  at  each  stake  with 
a  loaded  pistol  and  fired  it  off  as  soon  as  the  boat  passed 
which  was  to  finish  at  his  stake,  and  the  first  pistol  that 
went  oft'  showed  which  boat  had  won.  Stop-watches 
were  also  carried  by  men  running  or  on  horseback  along- 
side of  each  boat,  and  so  the  time  was  kept.  A  profes- 
sional water-man  ran  beside  each  boat  and  gave  the 
bow  directions  for  steering  during  the  race.  The  pair- 
oars  are  now  rowed  without  cockswains  and  are  steered 
by  rudders  worked  by  the  bow  oar,  with  an  arrange- 
ment by  which  his  feet  can  regulate  long  copper  tiller 
wires.   Left  for  London  directly  after  dinner. 


292     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

Dined  again  with  Bradford,  where  I  met  Penrose, 
Peabody,  Jameson,  Riston,  and  Mann,  another  of  the 
so-called  "American"  or  "Philadelphia"  four.  I  gave 
them  an  idea  of  the  heat  in  Philadelphia  and  told  them 
of  some  differences  in  our  diet  and  training  for  our  sum- 
mer climate.  Altogether  we  had  another  cozy,  charming 
party  and  no  mosquitoes,  though  the  weather  was  warm. 
The  longer  I  have  stayed  in  Cambridge  the  more  I  ap- 
preciate some  of  its  special  features.  The  Cavendish 
laboratories  are  the  beginning  of  scientific  education  in 
the  big  English  universities.  There  is  none  at  present 
at  Oxford  and  it  is  only  just  starting  at  Cambridge. 
"The  Backs"  here  are  more  beautiful  than  any  one 
thing  at  Oxford.  Trinity  Hall  is  finer  than  any  one  hall 
at  Oxford,  and  one  chapel  here  is  perhaps  superior  also; 
yet,  on  the  whole,  Oxford  far  surpasses  Cambridge  in 
general  beauty  and  dignity.  The  wonderful  bright- 
colored  coats  worn  by  the  men  of  the  crews  and  cricket 
elevens,  which  they  call  "blazers,"  are  most  striking. 
They  seem  to  an  American  as  too  vivid  in  color,  with 
wonderful  contrasts  in  the  way  of  stripes.  I  bought  as  a 
souvenir  the  dark  blue  coat,  white  trousers,  and  scarf 
at  Oxford  worn  by  the  University  crew  men. 

The  habit  at  Oxford  and  Cambridge  of  breakfasting 
in  each  other's  rooms  instead  of  in  hall  and  the  dining 
in  hall  instead  of  at  small  dining-clubs,  as  is  so  much  the 
fashion  among  the  well-to-do  at  Harvard,  tends  to  a 
great  deal  of  sociability  and  perhaps  has  much  to  do 
with  the  freedom  of  hospitality  which  is  so  remarkable 
in  English  society;  that  is,  hospitality  among  them- 
selves and  to  any  one  who  is  properly  introduced.  At 
Cambridge  the  bumping  races  were  over.  They  had  had 
their  great  ball  and  the  young  ladies  had  mostly  gone 
when  I  arrived,  and  the  men  were  settling  down  in 


UNIVERSITY  HOSPITALITY  293 

preparation  for  future  examinations  and  the  long  va- 
cation, and  I  did  not  have  the  advantage  of  Hving  in 
one  of  the  colleges  as  at  Oxford,  nor  did  I  have  as  many 
letters  of  introduction.  Still,  my  time  was  very  agree- 
ably filled  and  I  saw  the  University  to  better  advantage 
than  do  most  strangers. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 
FIRST  OF  LONDON  REVISITED 

Wednesday,  May  31 

To-day  went  to  see  the  great  Derby  horse-race.  I 
started  off  from  the  corner  of  Regent  Street  and  Picca- 
dilly on  the  top  of  a  four-horse  drag  which  my  friend 
J.  Horsfall  had  engaged.  In  the  party  were  some  ten 
German  friends  of  his  and  all  were  bound  in  a  merry 
mood  for  the  Derby  races.  We  had  an  experienced 
driver,  good  and  even  handsome  horses,  a  manservant, 
and  plenty  of  lunch  inside  the  coach.  Before  we  had 
got  fairly  out  of  London  and  about  ten  o'clock  in  the 
forenoon  the  roads  toward  Epsom  were  well  filled  with 
carriages  and  foot  passengers,  all  tending  one  way. 
Every  sort  of  trap  was  put  into  use  —  small  donkey 
carts,  vegetable  wagons,  tip-carts,  express  wagons,  omni- 
buses, hansom  cabs,  and  in  fact  everything  from  a  pair 
of  bare  feet  up  to  a  landau  with  four  horses. 

The  day  was  not  particularly  hot,  yet  people  were 
constantly  quenching  their  thirst  with  beer  at  every  inn 
and  hotel  on  the  roadside.  All  along  we  saw  negro  min- 
strels, some  of  them  of  the  rudest  sort,  generally  three 
men  with  a  banjo,  a  set  of  bones,  and  a  tambourine. 
Sometimes  the  company  would  consist  of  but  one  man 
who  would  sing,  make  faces,  tell  stories,  pass  round  the 
hat,  and  say  "Thank  you,  Sar,"  to  those  who  put 
nothing  in.  Before  we  got  a  quarter  of  the  way,  we  saw 
some  parties  who  had  unhitched  their  horses  and  had 
already  begun  their  lunch.  I  wondered  if  they  ever  saw 
the  race-course  even  from  a  distance  that  day.  There 
were  parties,  no  nearer  their  destination,  who  were  over- 


THE  DERBY  CROWD  295 

come  with  the  "fresh  air  and  sandwiches"  and  had  gone 
to  sleep  under  a  hedge  or  in  some  cases  right  out  on  the 
roadside.  There  seemed  to  be  an  innumerable  supply 
of  policemen  all  along  the  road.  There  were  always  one 
or  two  in  sight.  Large  numbers  of  pea-shooters  were 
sold  along  the  way,  so  that  one's  eyes  were  in  jeopardy 
both  going  and  coming.  They  also  sold  what  seemed 
to  me  the  most  stupid  contrivance  for  squirting  water. 
It  was  nothing  but  a  painter's  tube  for  oil  paints  filled 
with  water  instead  of  colors.  WTiile  they  were  about  it 
they  might  have  got  something  which  would  squirt 
water  better  and  not  be  used  up  in  one  second.  How- 
ever, these  were  uncomfortable  and  annoying  enough 
as  it  was,  so  we  had  reason  to  be  thankful  that  they  w^ere 
not  more  effective.  After  we  left  the  limits  of  London 
the  road  was  no  longer  watered  and  the  air  was  ex- 
tremely dusty. 

About  twelve  o'clock  we  arrived  at  the  race-course, 
had  the  coach  driven  into  the  two-guinea  enclosure,  and 
got  close  to  the  line  right  opposite  the  grandstand,  so 
that  we  had  the  best  place  possible.  Driving  down  our 
driver  spared  his  horses  at  the  beginning,  many  a  trap 
passing  us.  Before  our  fine  animals  got  tired  or  hot  he 
watered  them  a  little,  occasionally  stopping  for  a  mo- 
ment; but  before  we  arrived  at  the  race-course  we  had 
passed  everything  that  had  gone  by  us  and  a  good  many 
more  that  had  started  ahead  of  us,  and  our  horses  were 
fresh  and  brisk. 

Once  established  in  the  enclosure  we  got  off  the  drag 
and  walked  about.  The  crowd  was  nowhere  very  dense, 
being  spread  over  a  large  area.  It  was  a  rough,  dirty, 
and  boisterous  set.  There  were  wild  Indians  painted  in 
all  sorts  of  colors,  with  rows  of  feathers  on  their  hats, 
who  did  second-rate  feats  of  strength  and  agility;  there 


296    HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

were  hand  organs  with  monkeys;  negro  minstrel  troops 
of  all  sizes  and  qualities;  there  were  Scottish  bagpipes 
and  Scotch  dancing-girls;  there  were  acrobats  and  jug- 
glers and  whole  families  of  "phenomena,"  and  each  set 
collected  a  crowd  about  itself,  the  crowd  sometimes 
more  interesting  than  the  performers.  There  were 
quantities  of  betters  or  book-makers  with  their  assist- 
ants, their  stands,  and  their  strange  costumes.  One 
pair,  for  example,  wore  tall  white  hats,  blue  cravats,  and 
long  checked  overcoats  coming  down  to  their  feet; 
another  couple  were  dressed  in  long  white  cloaks,  with 
large  red  crosses,  looking,  with  their  backs  turned,  like 
Catholic  priests  at  high  mass.  They  all  had  some  pe- 
culiar costume,  and,  what  is  strange,  there  was  not  a 
single  face  among  some  two  hundred  or  more  of  these 
book-makers  or  professional  betters  that  I  saw,  who 
did  not  look  as  calm,  sober,  gentle,  and  honest  as  could 
be;  in  fact,  seen  in  another  costume  and  another  place 
they  would  pass  for  quiet,  country  Methodist  parsons. 
Until  the  race-horses  appeared  just  before  the  great  race 
itself,  the  betting  was  carried  on  most  quietly.  Only  as 
the  horses  started  did  it  become  noisy. 

The  chief  amusement  of  the  crowd,  while  waiting, 
seemed  to  be,  above  all,  the  game  of  Aunt  Sally,  which 
has  now  somewhat  improved.  Instead  of  uselessly 
knocking  the  pipe  out  of  the  mouth  of  a  figure  dressed 
to  represent  Aunt  Sally,  they  threw  clubs  at  cocoanuts 
placed  on  sticks  about  four  feet  high  and  six  feet  apart. 
If  a  cocoanut  was  hit,  it  belonged  to  the  lucky  shooter. 
Hitting  the  support  and  so  knocking  down  the  nut  did 
not  count.  A  halfpenny  or  a  farthing  a  throw  was  the 
price.  It  seemed  very  easy  to  hit  these  cocoanuts,  so 
every  one  tried,  but  in  reality  it  was  hard  and  so  those 
running  these  games  made  no  little  profit. 


THE  GREAT  RACE  297 

Several  races  of  more  or  less  interest  came  off,  all  on 
time,  and  then  we  had  lunch  with  champagne,  various 
kinds  of  sandwiches,  cold  chicken,  fate  defoie  gras,  and 
what  not.  During  lunch  crowds  of  dirty  ragamuffins 
crawled  under  the  carriage  to  get  what  was  thrown  away. 
Every  now  and  then  we  would  be  called  on  to  "  sit  still 
for  a  moment"  and  the  next  minute  a  man  would  ap- 
pear with  a  tintype  of  the  coach  and  party.  We  had 
twenty  of  these  taken  of  us. 

At  last  the  bell  rang  for  the  great  race  of  the  day. 
The  track  was  cleared  and  out  came  the  horses  and 
riders,  going  slowly  up  the  course,  and  then  faster  back 
to  the  start,  to  "get  up  the  blood."  We  had  not  long 
to  wait  before  we  heard  from  the  other  side  a  roar  of 
shouting  and  could  indistinctly  make  out,  round  the 
corner  to  our  right  and  over  the  heads  of  the  standing 
crowds,  some  bright  colors,  yellow,  red,  and  blue,  flash- 
ing past.  Then  we  saw  the  horses  turn  Tattenham  Cor- 
ner and  come  straight  for  us.  We  were  unable,  till  they 
got  nearly  opposite,  to  tell  which  was  ahead.  All  about 
us  the  excitement  was  intense.  One  could  feel  it  in  the  air. 
I  took  the  opportunity  to  glance  at  the  grandstand  op- 
posite and  the  crowd  below.  Every  hat  w^as  off,  every 
neck  strained,  and  every  head  turned  in  the  same  di- 
rection. It  was  a  sea  of  faces  and  eyes.  In  a  moment 
the  horses  were  in  front  of  us  and  then  past,  first  one 
and  then  another  having  the  lead,  but  the  favorite 
hopelessly  behind.  The  great  event  of  the  day  was  over. 
A  good  view  of  the  race,  for  about  eight  seconds  at  most 
and  much  less  for  many,  had  brought  that  great  crowd 
of  hundreds  of  thousands  out  of  London  and  from  all 
parts  of  England.  There  followed  soon  after  an  unim- 
portant race,  the  last  one  of  the  day,  and  then  all 
started  for  home. 


298     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

Such  confusion  and  such  noise,  dust,  dirt,  and  row! 
Lunch  was  strewed  about,  horses  were  frisking,  and  a 
good  haK  the  drivers  were  more  or  less  drunk.  Our 
driver,  fortunately,  was  in  good  condition.  The  road 
was  so  crowded  that  we  hardly  went  off  a  walk  for 
about  five  miles  and  we  had  frequent  blocks  when  the 
whole  procession  came  to  a  standstill.  The  scenes  along 
the  road  were  discouraging  enough  for  any  one  who  be- 
lieves in  the  essential  good  of  human  nature  and  would 
quickly  put  to  rout  any  theory  of  the  self -development 
and  improvement  of  unassisted,  unrestrained,  free 
human  action.  The  amount  of  drunkenness  was  be- 
yond belief.  Dignified  and  quiet-looking  old  men  would 
be  drinking  to  the  health  of  passers-by;  young  men 
would  be  drinking  out  of  the  bottles.  The  pea-shooters 
were  livelier  than  ever,  and  before  we  got  home  small 
stones  were  used  in  place  of  peas.  Water,  and  even  beer, 
was  thrown  from  one  carriage  to  another,  and  so  were 
little  bags  of  some  white  powder,  which  would  break  on 
hitting  one's  clothes  and  make  one  look  like  a  miller.  A 
party  of  young  men  in  a  handsome  barouche  began  to 
amuse  themselves  by  shooting  peas  at  an  old  woman 
by  the  roadside.  She  took  up  stones,  and  on  their 
continuing,  she  let  fly  right  into  the  carriage,  and  why 
the  sharp-cornered  stones  used  for  macadamizing  the 
road  did  not  break  any  skulls,  none  of  us  could  tell. 
They  very  much  damaged  the  varnish  on  the  handsome 
equipage.  Our  coachman  got  ahead  by  taking  a  side 
road,  and,  having  used  the  horses  well,  they  were  fresh, 
and  once  out  of  the  thickest  of  the  crowd  we  passed 
everything  and  got  back  to  our  rendezvous  at  about 
half -past  ten  in  the  evening,  all  having  had  "a  very 
nice  time,  thank  you."  One  of  our  own  party  was  over- 
come from  imbibing  too  much  and  had  to  be  put  below. 


MIERICAN  POLITICS  299 

Another,  who  was  in  pretty  bad  condition,  made  friends 
with  a  street-walker  along  the  side  of  the  road  and  in- 
sisted upon  her  getting  up  on  the  coach  and  sitting  be- 
side him.  I  felt  thoroughly  ashamed  of  my  company 
and  only  trusted  I  was  not  recognized  by  any  of  my 
good  English  friends.  Altogether  it  was  about  as  dis- 
gusting and  discouraging  an  experience  as  I  have  ever 
had. 

Thursday,  June  1 

Dined  with  John  Westlake,  Esquire,  Queen's  Coun- 
sel, and  Doctor  of  Civil  Laws  at  Oxford.  (Later  was 
made  Professor  of  International  Law  at  Cambridge 
and  a  judge  of  the  Hague  Court  of  International  Ar- 
bitration.) There  I  met  several  barristers.  A  good  deal 
of  friendlj^  interest  in  American  politics  was  developed. 
I  explained  the  bad  influences  of  the  present  civil  service 
and  patronage  system  and  how,  through  it,  we  created 
political  machines  which  manipulate  the  caucuses, 
primaries,  and  conventions  in  favor  of  those  who  put 
them  in  office,  so  that  no  longer  does  our  Government 
represent  the  wishes  of  the  people,  but  rather  the  wishes 
of  a  ring  of  unscrupulous  politicians,  the  office-holders 
working  for  the  "ins"  and  those  wanting  their  places 
working  night  and  day  for  the  "outs."  We  go  through 
the  form  of  voting,  as  the  Roman  citizens  so  long  did 
under  the  Empire  for  their  consuls,  but,  just  as  they 
voted  for  candidates  named  by  the  Emperor,  so  we 
vote  only  for  those  whom  the  political  party  machines 
nominate. 

The  Royal  Titles  Bill  passed  in  April  and  the  declara- 
tion of  Queen  Victoria  as  Empress  of  India  a  month 
ago  came  up  for  discussion.  The  usual  reason  given  for 
the  change  of  title  was  to  impress  the  inhabitants  of 


300    HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

India,  where  "empress"  seemed  a  higher  title  than 
"queen."  Wliether  it  would  not  at  the  same  time  settle 
any  question  of  precedence  in  England  itself  as  between 
a  royal  and  an  imperial  princess  was  considered  as  at 
least  a  probable  consequence  of,  if  not  a  motive  for, 
the  change. 

Friday,  June  2 

Called  on  Mr.  Rawlins  at  Lincoln's  Inn,  New  Court. 
I  find  that  many  of  the  British  barristers  have  a  way  of 
looking  at  the  law,  not  as  a  system  intended  to  bring 
about  the  best  justice  possible  and  to  be  developed  for 
that  purpose,  but  merely  as  a  bundle  of  traditions  with 
no  concern  as  to  the  reason  for  their  existence  other 
than  that  they  are  what  they  are.  That  is  a  very  con- 
venient state  of  mind  for  an  active,  practicing  young 
barrister,  but  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  only  those  men 
will  become  great  as  judges  or  leading  lawyers  in  the 
realm  who  are  seeking  to  develop  a  wise  and  helpful 
jurisprudence  fitted  to  the  needs  of  the  people. 

Spent  the  afternoon  in  the  South  Kensington  Mu- 
seum, mostly  in  examining  the  scientific  apparatus. 
There  was  so  much  to  see  that  one  had  to  choose  be- 
tween merely  looking  over  everything  just  to  get  an 
idea  of  the  size  and  variety  of  the  whole  or  else  to  exam- 
ine a  small  part  carefully. 

I  dined  with  Mr.  Albert  Rutson  at  the  Devonshire 
Club.  Mr.  Rutson  had  taken  the  trouble  to  look  me  up, 
saying  that  my  father  had  been  kind  to  him  when  he 
was  in  Boston  during  his  travels  in  the  "States."  He  is 
not  well.  At  the  dinner  were  Mr.  Charles  Parker,  Pro- 
fessor Gurney,  somebody  named  Rice  from  India,  and 
others.  After  dinner  I  went  to  hear  Albani  sing  in  "I 
Puritani."   I  was  delighted  with  Albani's  voice,  charm 


A  TROUBLESOME  CABMAN  301 

of  manner,  and  good  looks.  The  cabman  who  drove  me 
home  was  somewhat  drunk  and  demanded  extra  pay, 
telling  me  when  halfway  home  that  he  would  not  go  on 
without  this  extra  amount.  I  told  him  to  go  ahead  or  I 
should  call  a  policeman.  When  at  the  door  of  my  lodg- 
ings he  insisted  on  extra  money.  I  gave  him  the  full 
fare  and  a  little  more  for  pourboire  and  then  unlocked 
the  door  and  walked  in.  He  followed  me  into  the  house, 
slipping  past  the  door  before  I  could  shut  it.  I  then,  as 
they  say  in  law,  posui  manus  molliter,  and  ejected  him 
from  the  house.  I  had  the  suspicion  from  hearing  a 
heavy  thud  that  he  fell  on  the  sidewalk,  but  in  a  mo- 
ment he  was  up  again,  banging  and  knocking  on  the 
door  and  threatening  all  sorts  of  things.  However, 
having  a  clear  conscience  and  knowing  I  had  a  right  to 
defend  my  castle,  and  that  I  had  used  no  unnecessary 
force  under  the  circumstances,  I  quietly  went  to  bed  and 
to  sleep. 

Saturday,  June  3 

Lunched  in  Piccadilly  on  pickled  salmon,  bread  and 
butter,  and  a  half  a  pint  of  stout  for  Is.  4<d.;  a  pretty 
cheap  lunch  and  not  bad.  I  visited  the  British  Museum, 
w^here  I  saw  the  rest  of  Athens  that  Lord  Elgin  had 
taken  away  and  which  I  had  not  seen  in  Greece,  and 
a  good  deal  also  from  Egypt  and  Syria.  The  Theseus 
is  badly  injured,  but  still  has  dignity  and  repose.  I 
called  on  Professor  Gurney  and  Mr.  Westlake  and 
found  them  out;  on  Signor  Franceschi,  who  was  in.  I 
walked  home  through  the  park,  where  I  saw  all  the 
world  and  some  of  my  world,  too,  out  driving  and  rid- 
ing. I  dined  at  St.  James's  restaurant  with  music 
during  the  meal.  They  had  a  wonderful  dinner  for  the 
price,  namely,  soup,  fish,  an  entree,  joint,  pudding, 


302     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

tarts,  ice  cream,  and  fruit  for  Ss.  6d.  I  spent  the  evening 
talking  with  a  dear  old  man  with  fine  curly  gray  hair, 
Mr.  Jonathan  Amory,  of  Boston,  who  was  lodging  in 
the  same  house  with  me.  He  gave  me  an  interesting 
account  of  his  meeting  Louis  Napoleon  and  Charles  X. 
He  was  trying  to  perfect  an  invention  on  a  smoke-con- 
suming patent  of  his  for  use  in  locomotives.  Theoret- 
ically it  is  good,  but  whether  it  will  work  out  in  practice 
is  another  matter. 

Whit  Sunday,  June  4 

Went  to  All  Saints',  Margaret  Street,  in  the  afternoon. 
Read  Pascal  till  time  for  dinner.  I  dined  informally  with 
Joe  Horsfall  and  his  brother.  Talked  over  our  Derby 
experiences  and  saw  some  of  the  sights  of  London. 

Monday,  June  5 

Being  Whit  Monday  all  the  banks  and  shops  were  shut 
and  no  work  was  done.  On  going  up  Regent  Street  at 
about  eleven  o'clock  in  the  forenoon,  I  passed  two  well- 
dressed,  rather  good-looking  girls,  both  drunk.  They 
were  talking  very  loudly,  kissing  and  embracing  each 
other.  The  police  never  put  a  stop  to  such  things  in 
London,  day  or  night,  unless  the  drunkenness  gets  so 
noisy  as  to  be  a  breach  of  the  peace  and  a  public  dis- 
turbance. With  us  in  America  drunkenness  in  public 
places  is  a  misdemeanor  and  it  is  the  duty  of  the  police 
to  arrest.  I  called  on  Mrs.  Dr.  Julius  Pollock,  whom  I 
found  in,  and  Lord  Tenterden,  who  was  out.  Went  to 
hear  Albani,  this  time  in  "Lohengrin,"  and  her  beauti- 
ful voice  grew  on  me  the  more  I  heard  it. 

Tuesday,  June  6 

Left  at  ten-fifty  for  Windsor  to  see  Eton  College  on 

the  day  of  the  annual  celebration.   How  I  remember 


ETON  COLLEGE  303 

June  6  as  the  great  Eton  day,  when  reading  of  the  pubHc 
schools  of  Great  Britain  in  my  days  at  St.  Paul's,  and 
here  I  now  am  on  the  very  day  and  at  the  very  school ! 
It  rained  as  the  train  drew  out,  in  the  quiet,  noiseless 
way  the  English  railway  carriages  move,  but  it  cleared 
up  before  arriving.  At  the  station  were  a  large  number 
of  boys  to  meet  their  friends.  The  small  boys  wore 
white  vests  and  short  black  jackets,  with  black  neck- 
ties and  turnover  collars.  The  older  ones  wore  long 
surtouts,  with  black  vests  and  white  neckties.  They  all, 
young  and  old,  wore  the  tall  silk  hats  of  the  Eton  lads, 
which  were  to-day  well  brushed  and  new,  and  most  of 
the  boys  had  flowers  in  their  button-holes.  I  met  a 
Mr.  Rawlins,  one  of  the  masters  at  Eton,  brother  of 
the  one  I  had  known,  who  had  given  me  a  letter  to  him. 
He  took  me  to  hear  the  speaking,  which  had  already 
begun.  The  speaking  was  confined  to  the  sixth  form  — 
the  highest  class,  and  considering  the  small  number 
from  which  the  speakers  were  chosen,  it  was  quite  good. 
There  were  several  dialogues,  funny  pieces,  serious 
speeches,  bits  of  poetry,  and  parts  of  plays  acted  out. 
A  French  dialogue  by  Moliere  was  particularly  well 
done.  A  piece  by  J.  R.  Lowell  —  spelled  on  the  pro- 
gramme with  one  /  —  was  given,  but  not  well.  There 
was  a  lot  of  enthusiastic  applause  among  the  boys  and 
their  friends. 

Lunched  with  Rawlins,  the  master,  and  some  of  his 
pals.  After  lunch  his  brother,  my  old  friend  the  bar- 
rister, turned  up  and  took  me  under  his  charge.  He  had 
arranged  to  have  me  invited  to  the  grand  lunch  and  to 
sit  at  the  head  table,  but  I  had  come  too  late  for  him  to 
find  me. 

We  then  walked  to  the  cricket  field.  It  was  the  most 
lovely  bit  of  ground,  perfectly  level,  of  well-rolled  and 


304    HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

closely  cut  turf,  thick  and  green,  and  it  was  surrounded 
on  all  sides  but  one  with  grand  old  trees,  the  foliage 
growing  down  to  the  very  ground.  Ladies  in  pretty,, 
bright  costumes  were  walking  about  and  under  the 
trees;  the  Royal  Band  from  Windsor  was  playing  de- 
lightfully, and  in  perfect  tune,  which  is  not  always  true 
of  the  bands  in  England  outside  the  most  noted  ones.  I 
was  presented  to  the  headmaster  of  Eton.  He  is  a  great 
rowing  authority,  and  we  agreed  that  the  English  eights, 
or  racing  boats,  were  built  without  enough  "floor" 
fore  and  aft.  I  was  also  presented  to  Mr.  Chitty,  who 
was  stroke  oar  for  a  year  or  two  of  the  Oxford  'Varsity 
crew  and  also  a  double  first,  and  is  now  a  successful 
barrister  (afterwards  an  eminent  judge)  and  always 
umpires  in  the  great  boat-race  between  the  university 
crews  of  Cambridge  and  Oxford. 

'  He  said  that  whatever  improvements  they  may  have 
made  since  his  day  in  boats,  oars,  and  style  —  they  had 
introduced  the  sliding  seats  —  they  did  at  least  one 
thing  worse  and  that  was  the  coaching.  Nowadays  a 
coach,  says  he,  thinks  he  is  not  doing  his  duty  unless 
he  is  constantly  calling  out  to  his  men  and  correcting 
them  for  some  fault  or  other.  The  oarsmen  get  confused 
and  irritated  and  then  do  not  pay  any  attention.  I  do 
not  know  that  that  applies  in  America  to  any  particular 
generation.  In  fact,  coaching  from  outside  the  boat  it- 
self has  been  rather  new  at  Harvard,  but  most  of  our 
coaches  do  call  out  and  even  swear  at  the  men  far  too 
much.  I  coached  the  1875  crew  till  just  before  the  race 
and  they  beat  Yale,  and  I  found  it  was  much  better  to 
talk  calmly,  explain  fully,  and  have  private  talks  with 
the  men,  merely  giving  a  word  of  reminder  when  they 
were  actually  rowing,  and  that  no  shouting  or  swearing 
is  the  least  bit  necessary  or  does  any  good. 


LORD  TENTERDEN  ON  THE  SULTAN  305 

Took  tea  with  the  headmaster  and  afterwards  at  a 

Mrs. 's,  where  I  met  Professor  Gurney.    On  account 

of  a  dinner  engagement  in  London  I  had  to  leave  be- 
fore the  great  procession  of  boats  and  the  fireworks,  but 
I  saw  some  of  the  boys  in  their  boating  uniform.  The 
cockswains  were  dressed  in  full  admiral's  toggery,  and 
all  wore  gaudy  uniforms  varying  according  to  the  crew 
they  represented. 

Drove  back  in  open  carriage  to  London  with  Pro- 
fessor Gurney  and  dined  with  Mrs.  Julius  Pollock, 
where  I  met  Lord  Tenterden,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rowcliffe, 
another  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pollock,  the  Reverend  Mr.  H.  R. 
Haweis,  a  distinguished  and  rather  free-thinking  clergy- 
man, Mrs.  Haweis  and  four  or  five  others.  The  death  of 
the  Sultan  of  Turkey  was  discussed.  Lord  Tenterden 
said  he  thought  the  Sultan  committed  suicide.  In  gen- 
eral, in  England,  people  laugh  at  the  idea.  Tenterden 
said  it  was  a  great  mistake  to  think  that  the  Sultan  was 
nothing  more  than  a  pleasure-seeker.  He  was  a  man  of 
ambition.  He  prided  himself  on  being  the  only  ab- 
solute monarch  in  the  whole  of  Europe,  unless  the  Czar 
of  Russia  was  to  be  excepted,  and  his  word  was  law. 
Tenterden  said  that  in  all  the  conferences  with  the 
various  English  ambassadors,  the  Sultan  had  been 
reported  as  a  man  of  determination,  good  sense,  and 
strong  will.  He  had  force  of  character  enough  to  travel 
all  over  Europe,  and  he  was  the  only  Sultan,  it  must 
be  remembered,  that  had  ever  done  so.  Then,  too,  he 
was  a  man  of  strong  passions  and  one  who  had  not  been 
taught  to  control  them.  From  his  high  position,  then, 
this  ambitious  monarch  suddenly  found  himself  de- 
prived of  all  power  and  not  even  allowed  the  dignity  of 
carrying  side  arms,  a  thing  much  thought  of  by  the 
Turks.    So  great  a  change  for  the  worse  with  a  man  of 


306     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

hotter  blood  than  our  Westerners,  and  with  no  chance 
ever  to  regain  his  power  —  what  would  be  more  natural 
than  suicide  with  him?  Of  course,  when  one  considers 
that  this  was  the  opinion  of  the  head  of  the  Foreign  Office 
at  a  critical  moment  in  European  affairs,  it  ought  to 
have  great  weight,  and  he  would  not  have  said  so  much, 
I  believe,  on  this  subject  unless  it  was  really  his  strong 
conviction. 

The  ladies  sang  after  dinner.  Lord  Tenterden  and  I 
walked  away  together,  he  leaving  me  at  the  corner  of 
Jermyn  and  St.  James's  Streets,  and  we  talked  a  little 
of  our  last  summer's  experiences;  all  in  his  cheery, 
jovial,  and  bright  way,  though  he  had  some  cause  for 
being  depressed,  as  his  wife  was  seriously  ill  and  their 
marriage  had  been  a  love  affair.  On  returning  to  my 
room  I  found  a  kind  note  from  the  Honorable  Dudley 
Fortescue,  asking  me  to  dine. 

Wednesday,  June  7 

Delivered  some  letters  of  introduction  in  the  afternoon 

and  dined  at  Simpson's  celebrated  restaurant. 

Thursday,  June  8 

By  appointment  Mrs.  H.  Rowcliffe  called  for  me  with 
her  sister,  Mrs.  Pollock,  in  her  carriage  for  a  drive  in  the 
park.  We  got  out  of  the  carriage  and  walked  up  and 
down  the  broad  path.  We  met  Lord  Tenterden  and 
several  other  friends.  There  was  a  great  scarcity  of 
pretty  young  ladies  on  horseback,  or  rather  the  young 
ladies  on  horseback  were  few  of  them  pretty.  Perhaps 
the  present  costume  is  not  particularly  becoming.  They 
all  ride  side-saddle,  with  long  skirts  and  tall  silk  hats. 
At  half-past  one  I  went  by  invitation  to  Mr.  Russell 
Sturgis's  box  at  Drury  Lane  to  Buckstone's  benefit. 


BUCKSTONE'S  BENEFIT  307 

Sturgis  is  one  of  the  senior  partners  of  Baring  Brothers, 
the  great  bankers.  This  benefit  was  the  great  theatrical 
performance  of  the  year  and  I  was  extremely  lucky  to 
see  it,  for  all  the  seats  had  been  taken  long  before  and 
I  could  not  buy  one  for  love  or  money. 

All  the  best  actors  in  London  took  parts  in  the  play, 
"The  School  for  Scandal."  Irving  took  the  part  of 
Joseph  Surface,  Miss  Neilson,  of  Lady  Teazle,  etc. 
Irving  was  rather  stiff  and  formal  and  seemed  unable  to 
descend  from  Hamlet  and  Macbeth.  The  play  was  not 
over  till  five,  and  then  Bucks  tone  made  a  long  speech 
in  answer  to  a  complimentary  and  by  no  means  short 
poem  spoken  by  a  popular  actress.  He  began  by  ex- 
plaining why  the  Prince  of  Wales  could  not  come  to  the 
performance,  but  had  regretted,  etc.;  how  the  Duke 
of  Connaught  had  been  present  during  the  early  part 
of  the  play,  but  had  been  called  away.  Then  he  told  of 
his  own  life;  how  he  began  at  eleven  shillings  a  week 
and  at  the  end  of  the  first  week  the  company  broke  up 
and  he  was  never  paid;  how  the  actress  who  just  re- 
cited the  poem  w^as  his  first  love;  how  he  was  still 
obliged  to  act  and  not  leave  the  stage  to  younger  and 
more  brilliant  actors  —  cries  of  "  No !  No !  Hear !  Hear ! " 
—  but  that  he  had  seven  apologies  which  were  his  seven 
children;  how  his  feelings  overcame  him,  and  how  many 
pounds,  shillings,  and  pence  had  been  subscribed  and 
taken  at  the  door. 

I  met  in  the  box  Mr.  Sturgis  and  his  daughter.  Pro- 
fessor and  Mrs.  Gurney,  and  a  man  whose  name  I  did 
not  catch.  Mr.  Sturgis  made  a  remark  which  implied 
that  all  men  were  bad,  but  some  were  hypocrites  and 
some,  like  Joseph  Surface,  more  honest.  I  think  I  could 
have  shown  him  several  of  my  classmates  and  friends 
who  were  genuinely  true.    I  remember   meeting   one 


308    HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

fellow  in  Paris  who,  because  he  belonged  to  a  rich  club 
and  associated  with  rich  friends  and  drank  a  good  deal, 
though  never  to  excess,  I  assumed  to  be  rather  loose  in 
his  morals,  for  he  had  no  religious  professions,  but  I  saw 
a  great  deal  of  him  in  that  tempting  city  and  found, 
from  his  actions  and  from  what  friends  said  of  him  and 
the  friends  he  chose,  that  he  was  as  true  to  high  prin- 
ciples as  any  of  the  best  of  the  fellows  I  know.  Why  a 
man  of  Mr.  Sturgis's  character  and  social  and  banking 
influence  should  say  such  a  thing  before  a  young  man 
like  myself,  I  do  not  know.  For  some  young  men  trav- 
eling abroad,  whose  principles  were  perhaps  hanging  in 
the  balance,  a  remark  like  this  might  have  tipped  the 
scales  for  the  worse. 

Delivered  more  letters.  I  found  Mr.  Gladstone  had 
moved  from  his  handsome  house  on  Carlton  House  Ter- 
race, where  I  saw  him  last  year,  to  73  Harley  Street, 
Cavendish  Square.  Gladstone  very  much  regretted 
the  change.  The  Carlton  Terrace  house  had  been  his 
home  for  forty  years,  in  which  most  of  his  children 
had  been  born,  and  where  he  had  most  of  his  great  tri- 
umphs in  politics  and  literature.  He  felt  he  must  take 
a  smaller  house  now  that  some  of  his  children  were 
married,  for  reasons  of  economy,  but  he  left  the  old  one 
with  a  pang. 

From  four  in  the  afternoon  to  about  half -past  eight 
in  the  evening,  the  cabmen  prefer  taking  their  chances 
on  short  affairs  to  being  engaged  by  the  hour  at  2/6.  As 
the  rate  is  but  sixpence  per  mile,  it  shows  that  they  get 
a  good  deal  to  do.  They  tell  me  that  they  make  most 
off  short  trips  of  about  three  quarters  of  a  mile  for  one 
shilling  each.  While  the  rate  is  sixpence  a  mile,  one 
shilling  is  the  minimum  fare. 


LONDON  MUSIC  309 

Friday,  June  9 

Called  on  the  Claytons,  Parkers,  and  Mr.  Smalley, 
the  London  correspondent  of  the  New  York  "Tribune." 
Mr.  Smalley  said  that  he  thought  Governor  Hayes,  of 
Ohio,  was  the  most  probable  candidate  for  Republican 
nomination  this  summer.  (This  turned  out  to  be  a  true 
prophecy  and  shows  how  well  informed  Smalley  was.) 
Had  a  pleasant  talk  on  politics.  I  thanked  him  for  what 
he  had  done  for  my  father  in  the  London  press  at  the 
time  of  his  nomination  as  Minister  to  England.  Got 
a  kind  letter  from  Lord  Coleridge  inviting  me  to  two  or 
more  breakfasts  with  him  and  suggesting  taking  me  to 
the  courts.  In  the  evening  I  dined  at  Dr.  Pollock's  and 
went  to  a  musicale  at  a  friend's,  where  there  were  many 
professionals  and  amateurs.  All  the  music  was  of  a  very 
high  order.  Wliile  the  English  generally  are  not  a  musi- 
cal race  and  many  of  them  do  not  know  whether  a  band 
is  in  tune  or  not,  and  many,  both  men  and  women,  with 
good  voices  lose  the  pitch,  yet  there  are  in  London  es- 
pecially some  of  the  most  highly  cultivated  musical 
people  that  are  to  be  found  anywhere  in  the  world,  and 
it  was  my  good  luck  to  strike  one  of  these  very  sets  this 
evening. 

Saturday,  June  10 

Letters  from  Professor  Gurney,  Lord  Houghton,  and 
Mrs.  Arnold,  all  inviting  me  for  various  occasions.  I 
went  to  a  matinee  concert  and  heard  Beethoven's 
"Kreutzer  Sonata"  for  violin  and  piano  splendidly 
played.  I  got  a  note  from  Mr.  Russell  Sturgis  later  in  the 
day  asking  me  to  spend  the  next  Sunday  at  his  country 
place,  but  had  to  decline,  having  accepted  a  dinner  with 
Lord  Coleridge  for  that  day.  This  evening  I  dined  with 
the  Honorable  Dudley  Fortescue.   I  met  there  his  wife. 


310     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

Lady  Camilla  Fortescue,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Loyd  —  spelled 
with  one  I  —  and  a  Mrs.  Ford.  I  took  the  latter  into 
dinner  and  sat  next  to  her.  I  was  very  glad  to  meet 
Fortescue,  whom  my  father  thought  one  of  the  most 
refined  and  intelligent  men  in  England.  He  has  no 
title  beyond  that  of  "Honorable"  and  is  the  second  son 
of  Earl  Fortescue.  He  has  for  many  years  been  a  mem- 
ber of  Parliament  and  has  held  several  important  offices. 
He  is  modest  and  most  attractive.  He  talked  delight- 
fully and  on  many  interesting  topics,  but  I  kept  no 
notes  of  the  conversation.  Lady  Camilla  is  the  daughter 
of  the  Earl  of  Portsmouth,  and  is  also,  like  her  husband, 
a  good  conversationalist,  speaking  with  intelligence, 
choosing  appropriate  words,  with  a  delightful  enun- 
ciation, and  showing  an  interest  in  every  subject  that 
came  up. 

Sunday,  June  11 

St.  James's  Church,  Jermyn  Street,  in  the  morning; 
a  beautiful  Ibsen  interior.  At  six-thirty  in  the  evening 
I  dined  very  informally  with  Lord  and  Lady  Coleridge 
and  their  daughter.  After  the  ladies  had  gone  out.  Lord 
Coleridge  was  good  enough  to  talk  to  me  alone  for  nearly 
an  hour.  It  appears  that  it  was  he  who  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  editor  of  the  "Guardian"  to  an  article 
on  the  English  Ministry  in  connection  with  my  father 
and  had  him  write  some  correction.  The  English  news- 
papers have  all  taken  the  stand  of  greatly  regretting  my 
father's  want  of  confirmation,  but  a  few  of  them  made 
some  error  regarding  the  action  of  the  Senate  Com- 
mittee. 

Lord  Coleridge  spoke  of  his  father's  death.  I  told 
him  how  glad  I  now  was  I  had  seen  his  father  and  how 
my  father  had  particularly  wished  me  to  meet  him  as 


COLERIDGE  ON  THE  HOUSE  OF  LORDS         311 

the  representative  of  the  perfect  type  of  the  gentlemen 
of  the  old  school,  as  well  as  a  distinguished  judge.  I  told 
him  how  I  was  visiting  the  Duke  of  Argyll  at  the  only 
time  that  he,  Coleridge,  could  arrange  to  have  me  visit 
him  and  see  his  father,  and  how  pleased  I  now  am  that 
I  had  shortened  my  visit  and  not  stayed  on  as  the 
Duchess  had  kindly  asked  me  to  do. 

Lord  Coleridge,  in  speaking  of  his  American  friends, 
said  it  had  been  his  fortune  never  to  have  met  a  dis- 
agreeable one.  He  spoke  particularly  highly  of  Horace 
Binney,  Jr.,  as  being  one  of  the  pleasantest  men  he  had 
ever  seen  of  any  country. 

Speaking  of  the  House  of  Lords,  he  said  that  if  that 
body  would  oftener  put  out  its  whole  pow^ers,  say  once 
a  week,  as  it  had  done  twice  during  the  year,  it  would 
be  a  very  great  weight  in  the  country.  The  debate  a 
few  weeks  ago  he  said  was  better  than  anything  he 
had  heard  during  the  year  in  the  Lower  House.  In  the 
Lords  no  one  is  afraid  to  speak  out  and  one  hears  real 
opinions.  Motions  in  general  were  more  thoroughly 
discussed  than  people  supposed.  Because  there  was 
less  form  and  less  time  taken  up  than  in  the  Lower 
House,  it  did  not  necessarily  follow,  by  any  means,  that 
there  was  less  thought  in  the  same  proportion.  He 
said  that  the  Chancellor  was  not  respected  and  obeyed 
in  the  House  of  Lords  as  the  Speaker  was  in  the  Com- 
mons and  that  he  could  not  absolutely  maintain  order; 
he  could  only  suggest.  This  want  of  power  might  be  a 
source  of  trouble  in  exciting  times,  Coleridge  said. 

To  show  the  entire  trust  in  the  Speaker  of  the  House 
of  Commons  and  how  he  is  allowed  to  act  arbitrarily 
at  times,  Coleridge  told  me  two  stories.  In  one  case 
an  admiral  stood  up  several  times  the  same  evening  and 
several  times  it  was  quite  clear  that  he  was  the  first  man 


312     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

standing.  The  discussion  was  on  a  university  bill.  Not 
being  able  to  catch  the  Speaker's  eye,  he  complained 
of  it  afterwards  to  that  august  officer.  He  was  an- 
swered pretty  much  as  follows:  "Of  course  I  did  catch 
your  eye.  I  saw  you  rise  several  times  first,  but  you 
must  be  aware  that  you  do  not  know  anything  about 
the  university  bill.  Had  it  been  a  naval  bill  I  should 
have  had  you  out  several  times."  That  was  said  in  good 
nature  and  taken  pleasantly.  Another  speaker  in  Lord 
Coleridge's  time  used  to  say  that  after  ten  o'clock  p.m. 
he  never  got  anybody's  eye  back  of  the  front  bench. 
What  a  row  would  such  language  from  the  President  of 
the  French  National  Assembly  produce! 

Once  when  a  university  bill  of  Coleridge's  was  brought 
before  the  House,  Disraeli  said  some  rather  cutting 
things,  to  which  Coleridge  replied,  although  he  knew  at 
the  time  that  the  reply  was  somewhat  out  of  order. 
*' Dizzy"  got  up  and  objected.  The  Speaker  hemmed 
and  hawed  somewhat,  but  decided  he  would  not  inter- 
rupt. No  one  objected  any  further.  Afterwards  the 
Speaker  said  to  him  alone,  "You  really  were  out  of  order, 
Coleridge,  and  I  shall  have  to  stop  you  another  time, 
but  I  let  it  pass  then."  It  was  pretty  well  understood 
by  all  that  it  was  giving  a  chance  for  a  telling  hit  back 
and  no  one  objected.  All  had  perfect  confidence  that 
the  Speaker  would  keep  the  reply  well  within  bounds. 

Lord  Coleridge  said  that  the  Duke  of  Wellington  used 
to  be  a  duelist,  and  on  one  occasion  had  argued  that 
sometimes  a  man's  words  were  such  that  he  should  be 
made  to  retract  them  or  be  willing  to  stand  by  them 
with  his  life.  This  language  was  rather  curiously  brought 
up  against  him  when  he  was  advocating  the  suppression 
of  dueling  in  the  army.  The  late  Sir  Robert  Peel  had 
fought  one  or  more  duels  in  his  lifetime. 


COLERIDGE  AS  A  CLASSICAL  SCHOLAR         313 

While  in  Parliament,  in  the  Lower  House,  Lord  Cole- 
ridge told  me  he  once  wished  to  quote  something  from 
Goethe,  and  w^hen  he  came  to  the  point,  he  was  afraid 
to  pronounce  the  name,  for  he  was  not  a  good  German 
scholar,  so  he  said,  "As  says  a  celebrated  German." 
He  told  this  story  against  himself  in  very  good  humor, 
and  how  he  made  it  a  rule  to  mention  the  name 
wherever  possible  and  not  to  make  vague  allusions  in 
his  public  speeches. 

While  talking  of  Greek  art  I  happened  to  mention 
Praxiteles  as  in  the  fifth  or  sixth  century  B.C.  Coleridge 
corrected  me,  but  he,  being  for  the  moment  doubtful, 
I  suggested  that  I  might  possibly  be  right.  Before,  how- 
ever, we  had  looked  it  up  in  any  book  of  reference  or 
history,  we  began  to  compare  historical  facts,  and  I  soon 
saw  that  he  was  right  and  that  I  for  a  moment  had  con- 
fused the  date  of  Praxiteles  with  that  of  Phidias. 

He  told  me  that  his  father,  when  fresh  from  Oxford, 
once  corrected  a  Chief  Justice.  His  father  turned  out  to 
be  right  and  the  Chief  Justice  afterwards  said,  "You 
happen  to  have  been  right  in  this  case,  but  as  a  rule  I 
should  advise  you  not  to  dispute  a  Chief  Justice."  Lord 
Coleridge  said,  while  alone  with  me,  that  he  had  been 
very  doubtful  about  accepting  the  peerage,  but  that 
Gladstone  urged  it  very  strongly  on  the  ground  that 
it  would  be  a  benefit  to  the  bar  in  general  if  its  leaders 
should  become  titled.  It  would  spur  them  up  to  their 
best  efforts.  He,  Coleridge,  also  said  that  the  Queen 
had  asked  him  no  less  than  three  times  to  accept. 

I  found  that  Lord  Coleridge  had  never  read  Quintil- 
ian,  which  gave  me  so  much  help  and  delight  in  college, 
but  that  he  had  begun  to  read  him  lately.  This  omis- 
sion was  the  more  strange,  as  Coleridge  was  not  only  a 
classical  scholar,  but  intended  to  follow  the  profession 


314    HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

of  the  bar  and  to  take  up  politics,  and  the  "Institutio 
Oratoria"  was  just  in  the  hne  of  his  training,  thought, 
and  ambitions,  and  as  an  orator  would  have  been  help- 
ful. He  has  a  very  bright  mind  that  acts  quickly  and 
surely  and  it  does  one  good  to  be  with  him,  and  then, 
too,  he  is  so  utterly  frank  and  has  such  a  beaming 
smile  and  friendly  manner !  I  only  wish  I  could  remem- 
ber one  half  of  the  good  things  he  said  on  this  and  other 
occasions. 

Mo7iday,  June  12 

Breakfasted  with  Sir  Frederick  Pollock,  whom  I  met 
last  spring.  He  is  the  son  of  the  late  celebrated  Chief 
Baron  Pollock  who  tried  so  hard,  by  his  decisions  and 
by  refusing  to  allow  an  appeal,  to  let  the  Laird  rams 
built  for  the  Southern  Confederacy  go  from  the  port  of 
Liverpool  in  violation  of  England's  neutrality.  This 
branch  of  the  family  has  little  to  do  with  the  other 
branch  whom  I  knew  through  Lord  Tenterden.  Sir 
Frederick  and  Dr.  Julius  are  only  half  brothers. 

Sir  Frederick  spoke  of  the  general  feeling  of  disap- 
pointment throughout  England  at  not  having  my  father 
as  Minister  to  Great  Britain  from  the  United  States. 
Lady  Pollock,  an  authoress  and  a  woman  of  large  ex- 
perience and  great  taste  in  literature  and  the  French 
stage,  thinks  Irving  has  the  vrai  feu  sacre.  In  a  certain 
sense  I  agree  with  her  and  in  a  certain  sense  not.  Irving 
has  done  much  to  elevate  the  stage,  has  his  plays  well 
prepared  and  all  his  fellow-actors  well  trained,  but  there 
is  something  artificial  and  stilted  in  his  manner  that 
always  reminds  one  that  he  is  acting,  and  in  that  he  so 
differs  from  the  great  French  actors.  Lunched  with 
Lord  Houghton  —  pronounced  Howton.  There  I  met 
Baroness  Burdett-Coutts,  Dean  Stanley  of  Westminster 


BARONESS  BURDETT-COUTTS  315 

Abbey,  Professor  and  Mrs.  Gurney,  the  two  daughters 
and  the  son  of  Lord  Houghton.  I  took  the  younger 
daughter  down.  Both  daughters  are  pretty,  and  pale. 
At  the  first  sitting  at  the  table,  people  had  arranged 
themselves  badly,  and  in  the  subsequent  changes  Lord 
Houghton  told  his  younger  daughter  to  go  over  and  sit 
next  to  me.  She,  being  a  little  bashful,  hesitated  some- 
what. I  immediately  got  up,  w^ent  over,  moved  out  her 
chair,  and  escorted  her  to  the  place  next  me,  and  that 
broke  the  ice.  Lord  Houghton  was  well  known  as  an 
author  of  both  prose  and  poetry,  by  the  name  of  Rich- 
ard Monckton  Milnes  before  he  was  made  a  peer. 

Baroness  Burdett-Coutts  must  be  about  forty  years 
of  age.  The  date  of  her  birth  is  carefully  omitted  from 
the  "Peerage,"  but  as  in  1837  she  inherited  a  large 
amount  of  property  and  changed  her  name  by  adding 
Coutts,  she  w^as  at  least  alive  then.  She  is  immensely 
wealthy,  fabulously  so,  has  founded  and  endowed 
numerous  institutions  for  religious,  benevolent,  and 
philanthropic  purposes,  built  model  lodging-houses  in 
Bethnal  Green,  and  the  magnificent  Columbia  market, 
the  latter  costing  about  $1,000,000.  She  has  brilliant 
eyes,  bright  color,  wore  a  broad-brimmed  Gainsboro 
hat,  and  was  very  well  dressed.  She  was  bright  in  con- 
versation, though  more  serious  than  witty,  and  was 
pretty  much  the  centre  of  attraction  at  the  lunch.  I 
talked  with  her  a  good  deal  on  sociological  and  phil- 
anthropic subjects. 

Dean  Stanley  was  extremely  kind  to  me.  He  of- 
fered to  show  me  over  Westminster  Abbey  in  person 
and  gave  me  his  card,  which  I  was  to  send  in,  and  he 
mentioned  some  hours  when  he  would  be  at  leisure.  I 
accepted  the  card,  but  told  him  I  thought  it  was  too 
great  an  imposition  on  his  time  to  show  me  about  and 


316     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

thought  the  card  would  help  me  to  see  many  portions  of 
the  abbey  usually  closed  to  strangers.  I  never  availed 
myself  of  his  kind  offer  to  conduct  me  in  person.  Per- 
haps it  was  a  mistake,  because  they  say  he  enjoys  show- 
ing the  abbey,  and  as  for  myself,  it  would  have  been 
a  great  delight  to  spend  an  hour  or  so  with  a  man  of  such 
high  character,  charming  conversation,  deep  religious 
interest,  and  profound  knowledge  of  the  history  of  the 
abbey. 

Lord  Houghton  was  in  very  good  spirits  and  bright, 
keen,  witty,  and  cheerful.  Usually  the  English  lunches 
break  up  immediately  after  the  meal  is  over,  as  do  the 
breakfasts,  because  the  London  days  are  so  full  that  it 
is  the  etiquette  to  leave  at  once  after  these  meals  are 
over,  but  in  this  case  the  conversation  was  so  inter- 
esting that  we  lingered  on  at  table  for  an  hour  or  more 
after  the  coffee.  The  Baroness  was  talking  to  the  Dean 
and  Lord  Houghton  about  some  further  plans  of  hers 
for  some  special  philanthropic  work,  I  do  not  remember 
just  what. 

Dean  Stanley  told  us  some  Jews  were  now  looking 
over  several  old  Hebrew  manuscripts  at  the  abbey, 
among  which  were  old  accounts  of  money  lent  the  Gov- 
ernment. I  walked  with  the  Dean  from  Houghton's 
till  our  ways  parted.  Lord  Houghton  asked  me  to 
breakfast  with  him  on  Saturday,  the  17th,  but  I  already 
had  another  engagement  for  that  hour  and  only  wished 
I  could  be  in  two  places  at  once,  he  is  so  delightful. 
On  leaving  the  house  Dean  Stanley  could  not  find  his 
hat.  I  remembered  seeing  it  upstairs,  so  I  started  up 
to  get  it  for  him,  but  he  followed  me  three  quarters  of 
the  way. 

Called  on  Lord  Tenterden,  Mr.  Russell  Sturgis,  the 
Honorable  Dudley  Fortescue,  and  Mrs.  Pollock,  and 


DEAN  STANLEY 


BREAKFAST  WITH  LORD  COLERIDGE  817 

left  a  card  at  the  Duke  of  Argyll's,  though  I  knew  he 
was  out  of  town  for  the  present.  I  dined  at  St.  James's 
Hall. 

On  account  of  the  lunch  at  Lord  Houghton's  I  had 
to  decline  a  second  pleasant  invitation  for  a  day's  out- 
ing with  Mr.  Russell  Sturgis  at  his  beautiful  place  on  the 
Thames  River.  I  forgot  to  say,  too,  that  I  had  to  de- 
cline an  invitation  to  spend  Sunday  the  11th  at  the 
Edwin  Arnolds'  on  account  of  my  dinner  with  Coleridge. 
The  Sunday  evening  dinner  hour  at  the  Arnolds'  I  saw 
was  fixed  in  the  note  very  early,  namely,  at  half -past 
five. 

Tuesday,  June  13 

Breakfasted  with  Lord  Coleridge;  his  son  and  heir 
Bernard  being  present.  I  was  asked  for  quarter  to  nine. 
I  arrived  at  five  minutes  of,  and  found  them  just  finish- 
ing morning  prayers.  Lord  Coleridge  had  expected  to 
have  for  to-day  the  summing-up  of  the  Albert  Grant 
case,  but  just  as  he  was  about  to  leave  his  house  his 
clerk  said  that  this  case  was  put  off  till  Wednesday. 
Lord  Coleridge  was  pretty  certain  that  he  had'set  it  for 
to-day.  The  clerk  hesitated  and  stammered,  not  liking 
to  contradict  "his  lordship,"  but  said  that  he  had  re- 
membered it  was  Wednesday  and  that  he  feared  it  was 
so  announced  in  the  "Times."  A  "Times"  was  brought 
and  the  clerk  proved  to  be  right,  though  there  may  have 
been  an  error  in  fixing  that  date;  but  it  settled  the  mat- 
ter, however,  for  the  day 's  proceedings. 

During  breakfast  Lord  Coleridge  told  several  funny 
stories.  One  was  of  a  young  dandy  army  officer.  He 
was  asked  at  the  opera  if  he  did  not  think  the  prima 
donna,  who  had  just  been  singing  divinely,  had  done 
well,  and  he  replied,  "Verwy  —  ah  —  haw  —  easy  is 


818     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

the  word."  Lord  Coleridge  imitated  the  fop  with  su- 
preme contempt  and  with  an  excellent  drawl,  followed 
with  hearty  laughter  from  us  all.  We  drove  down  in 
a  four-wheeler.  On  the  way  the  conversation  was  largely 
on  family  horses.  Lord  Coleridge  opened  the  court, 
looking  very  odd  in  his  ugly  pink-and-blue  caped  gown. 
His  long,  curling  white  wig  was  becoming  to  him.  There 
were  six  cases  on  the  short  list;  that  is,  subject  to  im- 
mediate trial.  Four  were  put  off  for  various  reasons, 
one  of  them  being  on  account  of  the  absence  of  the  oath 
of  physicians  as  to  the  insanity  of  a  person;  a  letter 
the  judge  held  not  being  sufficient.  The  barrister  on  the 
defense  for  the  sixth  case  was  in  another  court,  so  the 
judge  returned  to  the  fifth.  It  was  a  complicated  case 
on  many  business  transactions,  with  numerous  letters 
involved,  but  Coleridge  had  tried  it  once  at  nisi  prius 
and  it  had  come  up  on  appeal.  The  barrister  was  not 
very  familiar  with  his  brief.  The  attorney  sat  below 
and  kept  handing  papers,  written  slips,  and  memoranda, 
and  whispering  to  his  barrister.  But  Lord  Coleridge 
cleared  the  ground  rapidly,  remembering  many  of  the 
incidents  from  the  former  trial,  put  the  barrister  at  ease 
by  refreshing  his  mind,  and  soon  the  case  went  on 
smoothly.  Coleridge  asked  many  questions  of  the  wit- 
nesses, showing  that  he  understood  the  case  better  than 
the  barrister,  and  his  questions  very  much  aided  in  get- 
ting at  the  merits  of  the  case  in  hand.  This  English 
practice  of  allowing  the  judge  to  ask  questions,  and  also 
giving  him  power  to  shut  out  irrelevant  testimony  with- 
out request  of  counsel,  helps  very  much  to  shorten  the 
trial  of  jury  cases;  but  in  America,  especially  since  the 
Know-Nothing  movement  in  the  fifties,  we  have  been 
very  averse  to  giving  our  judges  the  old  Anglo-Saxon 
authority,  and  we  thereby  very  much  lengthen  trials 


ENGLISH  LADIES  AND  POLITICS  S19 

and  give  up  one  of  the  best  aids  to  securing  justice.  I 
left  the  court  at  noontime.  This  was  in  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas,  of  which  Coleridge  is  Chief  Justice 
with  a  salary  of  $35,000  a  year.  Lord  Coleridge  told 
me  that  when  he  was  very  busy,  as  Attorney-General 
trying  cases  in  the  daytime  and  sitting  in  Parliament 
in  the  evening,  he  made  it  a  rule  to  ride  horseback 
every  morning  before  breakfast,  but  that  now  that  his 
work  was  easier  he  had  given  up  that  practice. 

Wednesday,  June  14 

Visited  London  Tower  in  the  afternoon.  Dined  in  the 
evening  with  Mr.  Shean,  Upper  Phillimore  Gardens, 
Kensington.  I  was  ashamed  to  find  that  I  was  late  by 
some  fifteen  minutes.  The  hour  was  set  at  seven-thirty. 
Mr.  Shean  is  a  celebrated  barrister  and  a  friend  of  West- 
lake,  at  whose  house  I  met  Shean  and  his  wife.  I  had 
to  decline  another  invitation  for  dinner  for  this  same 
evening  at  the  Russell  Gurneys'.  The  Sheans  were 
extremely  kind,  and  I  passed  a  delightful  evening,  dis- 
cussing many  topics  of  public  interest  in  England  and 
America.  Mr.  Francis  Allston  Channing,  a  cousin  of 
mine,  was  expected,  but  did  not  turn  up.  He  had  very 
high  honors  in  college  and  is  a  promising  young  member 
of  Parliament  (and  was  made  at  first  a  baronet  and 
afterwards,  in  1912,  Lord  Channing  of  Wellingborough). 
The  ladies  in  England,  as  I  said  before,  take  far  more 
interest  in  politics  than  the  ladies  in  America.  This  is 
perhaps  more  natural  because  it  is  the  educated  classes 
that  rule,  and  their  wives  and  daughters  become  natu- 
rally conversant  with  all  that  is  going  on;  but  even  in  the 
families  of  those  Americans  who  are  educated  and  also 
in  politics,  the  ladies  do  not  seem  to  take  the  same  in- 
terest, at  least  in  the  large  questions.    This  may  be  be- 


320    HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

cause  there  are  so  few  of  them  to  stimulate  one  another 
and  they  often  do  not  follow  their  husbands  to  Wash- 
ington, and  when  at  Washington  so  much  time  is  taken 
up  with  the  concerns  of  petty  squabbles  for  patronage. 
(Of  course  this  is  very  much  changed  in  America 
especially  in  recent  years.) 

Thursday,  June  15 

Breakfasted  again  with  Lord  Coleridge  at  his  usual 
hour  of  eight-forty-five.  All  the  servants,  some  ten  or 
more  in  number,  were  present  at  the  morning  prayers. 
It  does  one  good  to  see  a  man  who  has  had  more  than 
the  usual  share  of  worldly  honors  and  success  still 
keeping  up  the  religious  duties  and  finding  time  for 
these  daily  family  morning  prayers  during  all  the  claims 
of  a  London  season  and  his  duties  as  a  judge.  Lord 
Coleridge  has  to  be  at  the  courts  before  ten-thirty,  and 
the  courts  are  half  an  hour's  drive  from  his  house, 
number  1  Sussex  Square.  These  morning  services  were 
impressive,  and  as  Lord  Coleridge  read  a  passage  that 
seemed  to  strike  him,  he  marked  it  in  the  margin  with 
his  pencil,  just  as  he  had  done  at  Honiton.  The  read- 
ing was  slow,  clear,  well  but  not  over-emphasized,  and 
reverential.  The  servants  went  out,  and  then  we  had  the 
usual  breakfast  without  their  aid,  each  person  passing 
what  his  or  her  neighbor  needed  and  the  gentlemen 
going  to  the  sideboard  to  carve  and  serve  the  meats, 
etc.   Lady  Coleridge  poured  out  the  tea  and  coffee. 

During  breakfast  Lady  Portland  called  to  see  Lord 
Coleridge  on  the  vivisection  bill  on  which  Lord  Cole- 
ridge seemed  to  be  somewhat  non-committal.  After 
breakfast  he  read  me  some  passages  from  Erskine  on 
the  treatment  of  animals.  Coleridge  has  deep  sympathy 
for  the  animals  and  is  in  favor  of  preventing  cruelty  to 


THE  STRATHCLYDE  CASE  321 

them,  but  felt  that  vivisection  was  too  valuable  an  aid 
to  saving  human  life,  health,  and  happiness  to  be  given 
up,  provided  proper  precautions  were  taken  to  avoid 
unnecessary  suffering.  Lord  Erskine  was,  said  Cole- 
ridge, the  greatest  bar  orator  England  has  ever  had. 

Bernard,  the  eldest  son  of  Lord  Coleridge,  is  rather 
quiet,  but  very  sensible  and  his  remarks  are  fitting  and 
forceful.  He  is  not  tall  like  his  father,  who  is  over  six 
feet,  but  is  about  five  feet  nine  inches,  I  should  judge. 

I  drove  down  to  Westminster  with  Lord  Coleridge 
in  the  four-wheeler  that  comes  for  him  every  morning. 
On  the  way  down  he  spoke  of  the  visits  of  Victor  Em- 
manuel, King  of  Italy,  to  Buckingham  Palace,  saying 
that  the  King  attended  his  Catholic  services  with  the 
utmost  regularity  and  conscientious  scrupulosity,  but 
that  in  his  private  morals  he  was  so  bad  that  he  had 
to  be  spoken  to  and  reminded  that  Queen  Victoria  and 
Prince  Albert  did  not  allow  such  actions  as  his  in  Buck- 
ingham Palace. 

Lord  Coleridge  took  me  by  the  judges'  entrance  to  the 
high  court.  The  case  under  consideration  was  that  of 
the  Strathclyde,  and  the  question  was  whether  there  was 
criminal  jurisdiction  for  the  British  courts  over  a  for- 
eigner on  a  foreign  ship  which  was  passing  within 
the  three-mile  limit  of  the  English  coast,  but  not  within 
any  harbor  when  the  act  complained  of  took  place. 
There  were  fourteen  judges.  Cockburn,  Chief  Justice 
of  the  Queen's  Bench,  presided,  with  Lord  Coleridge  at 
his  right.  When  we  first  came  into  the  court-room 
thirteen  of  these  judges  were  on  an  upper  bench  or  plat- 
form with  large  desks  in  front,  and  one,  Sir  Robert 
Phillimore,  had  been  put  down  at  a  lower  bench  on  a 
level  with  the  clerk  of  the  court,  but  that  position  he 
did  not  like,  and  so  with  considerable  moving  he  had 


322    HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

a  separate  seat  prepared  for  him  on  the  upper  row  in 
a  much  more  dignified  position  and  more  suitable  to 
his  attainments  and  rank. 

I  sat  in  the  jury  box  close  to  Sir  Robert,  and  he  spoke 
to  me  several  times  during  the  day,  pointing  out  some 
of  the  eminent  counsel  and  in  the  intervals  asking  me 
what  I  was  doing.  I  had  nothing  but  a  series  of  English 
hospitalities  and  kindnesses  to  report. 

Judah  P.  Benjamin,  who  had  been  Secretary  of  War 
in  the  Southern  Confederacy  under  Jefferson  Davis, 
was  chief  counsel  for  the  defense.  The  Strathclyde  was 
a  German  ship  and  it  was  a  German  captain  who  was 
under  criminal  indictment.  Benjamin,  of  course,  was 
against  the  jurisdiction  so  as  to  get  his  client  freed  from 
trial  in  an  English  court.  He  opened  the  argument  as 
it  was  on  an  appeal  on  a  point  of  law,  and  during  his 
argument  he  quoted  from  Dana's  "Wheaton."  Lord 
Cockburn  said  he  had  only  Lawrence's  edition  and  the 
Solicitor-General,  who  was  arguing  on  the  other  side, 
said  he  had  been  unable  to  own  Dana's,  though  he  had 
tried  to  get  it,  as  it  was  out  of  print. 

Benjamin  quoted  from  Bluntschli  and  Lord  Cock- 
burn  stopped  him  and  asked  who  that  was.  It  was 
strange  that  Cockburn  did  not  know  a  writer  on  inter- 
national law  of  that  celebrity,  whom  I  myself  knew  of, 
though  I  had  never  made  a  special  study  of  that  branch 
of  the  law.  Benjamin  began  to  explain,  and  in  order  to 
give  him  his  proper  status,  said  that  Bluntschli  was  often 
quoted,  as  His  Honor  would  remember,  at  Geneva; 
that  is,  during  the  great  Alabama  arbitration  case.  His 
Honor  then  said  that  he  had  never  heard  him  quoted 
before  as  an  authority,  but  that  it  might  have  been  done 
at  Geneva,  and  ended  with  these  words:  "There  were 
many  things  said  there  not  worth  attention."   This  re- 


LORD  COCKBURN  IN  COURT        323 

mark  was  followed  by  great  applause  from  the  bar.  The 
court  was  crowded  with  barristers.  This  was  rather  a 
peculiar  remark  from  one  who  was  the  arbitrator  on 
behalf  of  Great  Britain  in  the  Alabama  case  sitting  with 
the  United  States  and  neutral  arbitrators,  and  as  one 
of  them  it  was  his  duty,  of  course,  to  hear  all  that  could 
be  said  on  both  sides,  and  especially  was  it  ungracious,  as 
the  decision  was  unanimous  against  Great  Britain,  with 
the  exception  of  Lord  Cockburn,  who  was  in  a  minority 
of  one.  Cockburn  had  shown  loss  of  temper  at  the  de- 
cision and  refused  to  sign  some  papers  or  to  do  some 
other  act  —  I  forget  just  what  it  was  —  that  would 
normally  be  required,  just  out  of  ill-will. 

Such  language  very  much  confirmed  Lord  Cole- 
ridge's stories  about  Cockburn  which  he  had  told  me 
when  I  visited  him  at  Honiton  last  September  and  which 
he  repeated  in  outline  again  to-day. 

Cockburn  kept  constantly  interrupting  Benjamin 
and  asking  questions.  He  started  with  a  strong  preju- 
dice in  favor  of  jurisdiction  and  hardly  allowed  Benja- 
min to  finish  his  sentences,  but  Benjamin  was  won- 
derfully patient  and  respectful  and  kept  driving  his 
point  home,  which  in  the  main  was  that  there  was  no 
precedent  whatever  for  this  jurisdiction;  that  if  it  had 
existed  it  must  have  been  brought  into  play  on  one 
or  more  occasions;  and  that  the  absence  of  any  such 
precedent  was  pretty  strong  evidence  that  the  juris- 
diction never  existed.  He  also  argued  that  the  three- 
mile  limit  was  established  for  international  purposes  of 
other  sorts,  such  as  fishing,  and  to  stop  naval  fights 
among  belligerents  too  dangerously  near  the  shore. 

Lunched  at  the  Parliament  bar  with  young  Drum- 
mond.  (I  wonder  if  this  was  perchance  Henry  Drum- 
mond,  the  author  in  1883  of  "Natural  Law  in  the 


324     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

Spiritual  World."  He  was  of  the  right  age  and  the  only- 
one  of  that  name  and  age  in  England  I  can  find  any 
trace  of.  The  Drummond  I  met  was  a  promising  young 
man,  and  we  found  we  had  some  interests  in  common, 
just  such  as  he  cared  for  and  wrote  about.)  Returned 
to  court  and  stayed  listening  to  the  argument  till 
the  adjournment,  which  was  at  four  o'clock.  In  the 
evening  dined  at  Mrs.  Rowcliffe's  and  there  met  my 
dear  Lord  Tenterden,  Mrs.  E.  S.  Rowcliffe,  Dr.  and 
Mrs.  Pollock,  and  Mr.  Charles  Lanyon,  son  of  Sir 
Charles  Lanyon.  He  had  been  in  America  and  was 
in  Boston  at  the  time  of  the  great  fire  of  1872.  A  quo- 
tation was  made  from  my  father's  notes  on  "  Wheaton" 
in  the  course  of  the  evening.  Lanyon  thought  the  new 
part  of  Boston  in  the  Back  Bay  one  of  the  finest  things 
of  its  kind  in  the  world  unless  he  excepted  some  of  the 
new  parts  of  London.  He  thought  Fifth  Avenue,  too, 
was  "fine  for  its  houses,"  but  they  were  more  monoto- 
nous with  so  many  more  built  alike  than  in  the  Back 
Bay  of  Boston  where  more  individuality  of  architecture 
was  shown. 

After  dinner  we  all  went  to  a  dancing  party  at  Judge 
Lushington's.  The  dancing  seemed  to  me  poor,  for 
they  never  reversed.  They  started  off  dancing  round 
and  round  very  fast  till  they  got  dizzy.  There  were  the 
two  young  Coleridges,  sons  of  the  Chief  Justice.  I 
danced  with  a  young  lady,  some  relative  of  my  friends, 
and  spoke  of  becoming  dizzy  from  lack  of  reversing, 
to  which  latter  I  was  accustomed.  I  had  come  to  the 
dance  unexpectedly,  it  was  a  sort  of  afterthought,  and 
so  had  no  kid  gloves  —  neither  had  Lanyon  — while 
most  of  the  men  wore  them.  In  reply  to  my  remark  on 
the  absence  of  reversing,  my  partner  said,  "You  must 
have  become  dizzy  because  you  did  not  wear  gloves.'* 


A  DANCING  PARTY  325 

On  this  I  asked  her  if  I  should  not  take  her  to  her 
mother.  She  is  said  to  be  very  bright  and  to  think 
herself  a  great  wit,  and  often  makes  cutting  and  im- 
polite remarks.  Lanyon  took  me  to  a  small  club  where 
men  gather  in  the  evening,  not  the  Cosmopolitan,  but 
a  less  celebrated  one  for  younger  men.  He  was  very 
kind  and  offered  to  make  me  a  member  of  the  Reform 
Club.  Found  on  getting  back  a  note  from  Dean  Stanley 
asking  me  to  breakfast  with  him  at  Westminster  Abbey 
day  after  to-morrow;  also  a  card  from  the  Reverend 
and  Mrs.  Hugh  Reginald  Haweis  for  afternoon  tea, 
with  music  and  a  weekly  "at  home." 


CHAPTER  XIX 
LAST  OF  LONDON  REVISITED 

Friday,  June  16 

I  BREAKFASTED  again  with  Lord  Coleridge,  who  took 
me  a  second  time  to  the  High  Court,  where  I  stayed  till 
twelve.  Charles  Lanyon  was  with  me.  I  was  intro- 
duced to  Benjamin,  with  whom  I  had  a  few  words;  he 
was  very  cordial  and  spoke  of  my  father;  and  also  to 
Cowen,  a  leading  barrister,  reporter  of  decisions,  etc. 
(and  afterwards  a  judge) ;  also  to  a  Mr.  Wilson  who  was 
in  the  same  box  with  me.  In  the  afternoon  called  on 
various  people,  among  them  Sir  Robert  Phillimore,  who 
was  at  home  and  spoke  about  some  books  he  was  send- 
ing my  father.  Called  also  on  Lord  Houghton,  who  was 
out.  Professor  Gurney,  who  was  out.  Lady  Pollock,  who 
was  at  home,  and  Mrs.  Russell  Gurney,  who  was  also 
at  home  and  who  asked  me  to  dine  with  them  on  the 
28th.  I  left  cards,  too,  on  the  Sheans.  Dined  at  St. 
James's  Restaurant  and  in  the  evening  was  taken  by 
the  Pollocks  to  a  public  concert,  where  was  good  music 
of  the  very  best  type.  On  coming  back  to  my  lodgings, 
found  a  note  from  Lanyon  asking  me  to  breakfast  with 
him  at  the  Reform  Club. 

Saturday,  June  17 

This  was  the  morning  for  my  breakfast  with  Dean 
Stanley  at  the  deanery,  Westminster,  and  I  was 
promptly  on  hand.  His  wife,  Lady  Augusta,  had  died 
only  a  few  months  before  and  there  was  a  look  of  deep 
sadness  in  his  dear  gray  eyes.  He  and  his  wife  were  made 
one  when  they  married,  lived  together  as  one,  but  le  hon 


l^^i-'Qi?^^:^^^^^: 


RT.-IION.  SIR  ROBERT  PHILLIMORE 


BREAKFAST  WITH  DEAN  STANLEY  327 

Dieu,  as  the  French  call  him,  had  not  willed  that  they 
should  leave  this  world  together,  so  he  lingers  behind. 
It  was  as  interesting  as  it  was  a  great  honor  to  be 
breakfasting  in  his  rooms  at  the  abbey  and  a  rare  priv- 
ilege to  hear  his  sweet  mind  opening  itself  on  the 
deep  topics  that  absorbed  him.  Though  myself  rather 
inclined  to  be  High  Church,  but  not  ritualistic,  I 
felt  inspired  with  his  desire  to  conciliate  the  High  and 
Low  Church  factions  into  a  wide  toleration  and  com- 
prehension of  different  points  of  view.  Why  should 
Christians,  and  especially  those  of  the  same  Church, 
wrangle  over  unessential  differences  when  there  should 
prevail  the  essentials  of  divine  love,  love  and  respect 
for  fellow-men,  and  the  supremacy  of  morality  and 
conscience?  His  hope  of  a  higher  and  more  pervad- 
ing Christianity,  whenever  the  unimportant  differences 
should  be  lost  sight  of  and  the  great  things  kept  in 
mind,  on  which  he  touched,  was  simply  superb.  His 
face,  as  he  spoke  earnestly,  was  as  near  the  face  of  an 
angel  as  I  ever  saw,  and  yet  it  was  a  sort  of  human  angel; 
the  kind  of  heaven  where  such  love  and  goodness  would 
prevail  was  far  more  interesting  than  one  of  winged 
beings  and  harps  of  gold,  and  how  infinitely  grander 
than  some  of  these  spiritualistic  manifestations  of  that 
life  with  all  the  talk  about  clothing,  troubles,  and  usual 
incidents  of  our  daily  life. 

He  said  he  was  sorry  I  had  not  accepted  his  invitation 
to  have  him  take  me  about  the  abbey  in  person,  as  he 
had  meant  it  sincerely  and  it  would  have  given  him 
pleasure,  and  perhaps  he  might  have  arranged  to  take 
one  or  two  other  people  at  the  same  time. 

Almost  immediately  after  this  delightful  breakfast, 
went  by  train  to  the  south  end  of  London  to  spend  the 
day  with  Lord  Tenterden  on  the  borders  of  the  Thames. 


328     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

There  was  a  yacht  race  and  we  went  out  sailing  to  see  it. 
The  race  was  between  two  boats,  one  an  American 
owned  by  Sands,  and  the  other  Enghsh  owned  by  Mr. 
Clark.  The  water  was  rough  and  the  wind  fierce  at 
times,  though  at  others  there  was  only  a  fresh  breeze. 
We  saw  the  best  of  the  race,  though  not  the  finish.  One 
of  the  boats  lost  a  topmast.  At  one  time  the  balloon 
jibs  of  both  boats  were  set  and  that  on  one  yacht  was 
carried  away,  but  another  was  set  quickly.  Returned 
to  shore  and  lunched  with  Lord  Tenterden  and  we 
fished  in  the  early  afternoon  with  moderate  luck.  Ten- 
terden is  something  of  an  Izaak  Walton  in  his  enthusi- 
asm for  the  rod  and  line,  though  the  broad  waters  of 
the  lower  Thames  in  this  case  were  not  quite  Walton's 
setting.   Returned  in  the  end  of  the  afternoon. 

On  getting  back  to  my  lodgings,  found  a  note  from 
the  secretary  of  the  great  Reform  Club  announcing 
that  I  had  been  unanimously  elected  an  honorary 
member  for  one  month.  Lanyon  tells  me  this  was  out- 
side of  the  rules  and  a  special  compliment.  These  people 
are  really  too  kind  and  flattering  in  their  attentions.  I 
dined  at  the  club.  I  also  found  a  pleasant  note  from 
the  Duchess  of  Argyll  asking  me  to  an  evening  recep- 
tion on  the  25  th  and  expressing  regret  that  they  had 
missed  me  when  I  called.  They  got  back  to  town  only 
a  few  days  ago. 

Sunday,  June  18 

To  church  with  Mrs.  Dr.  Pollock  and  Mrs.  Rowcliffe 
and  afterwards  lunched  with  Mrs.  Rowcliffe.  Im- 
mediately after  lunch  started  for  Pembroke  Lodge, 
Richmond,  where  I  saw  Lord  and  Lady  Russell,  Lady 
Amberley,  Rollo,  and  some  other  young  men.  Lady 
Russell  very  kindly  asked  me  to  stay  to  dinner  and  she 


A  TALK  WITH  ANTHONY  TROLLOPE  329 

expressed  sorrow  that  my  father  had  not  been  sent  as 
Minister  to  England.  There  is  the  same  beautiful  view 
from  the  terrace  over  the  valley  of  the  Thames.  "  That 
has  remained  unchanged,"  she  said  to  me  as  she  laid 
her  hand  on  her  daughter's  shoulder.  Her  eldest  son. 
Lord  Amberley,  had  died  not  long  before,  making  a 
great  change  in  her  life.  She  asked  me  to  visit  them 
Saturday  and  Sunday  next.  I  was  not  able  to  stay  to 
dinner,  so,  following  afternoon  tea,  went  back  to  Lon- 
don, where  I  dined  with  the  Edmund  Dicey s.  There  I 
met  a  brother  of  his  who  commands  a  fleet  in  China  and 
was  at  home  on  a  furlough.  I  had  also  to  decline  a 
dinner  with  Anthony  Trollope  as  I  had  accepted  the 
Diceys'  dinner  first.  Dicey  is  a  clever  writer,  a  bril- 
liant man,  well  informed  on  all  the  topics  of  the  day, 
and  a  well-known  lecturer.  We  had  much  interesting 
talk.    It  is  a  great  education  to  meet  such  men. 

We  adjourned  to  the  Cosmopolitan  Club.  There 
we  saw  and  had  chats  with  Lord  Houghton,  Lord  Al- 
exander Russell,  the  son  of  the  sixth  Duke  of  Bedford, 
Mr.  Field  from  America,  Sir  Henry  Thompson,  the 
great  surgeon,  Anthony  Trollope,  and  Sir  William  Ver- 
non Harcourt.  The  latter  I  only  bowed  to  and  shook 
hands  with,  for  he  went  off  only  too  soon.  Had  a  little 
talk  with  Trollope,  who  was  sorry  I  could  not  come  to 
dine  with  him  and  again  spoke  pleasantly,  as  he  did 
last  year,  of  many  agreeable  evenings  with  my  father 
and  mother  on  the  Continent.  He  said  my  father  was 
one  of  the  most  entertaining  raconteurs  he  had  ever  met 
and  spoke  of  his  wit  and  wide  information,  all  which 
made  conversation  where  he  was  present  so  entertain- 
ing. 


S30    HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

Monday,  June  19 

Called  on  Rawlins  with  my  classmates  Wigglesworth 
and  Sanger,  to  whom  he  was  very  kind  and  helpful.  In 
the  evening  dined  at  Fishmongers'  Hall  at  the  invita- 
tion of  Mr.  Russell  Gurney,  who  presided.  I  sat  op- 
posite him  and  next  to  Mr.  Cyrus  Field.  There  were 
many  speeches,  toasts,  and  songs,  and  an  enormously 
elaborate  and  expensive  dinner,  beginning  with  a  course 
of  turtle  soup,  the  most  delicious  I  ever  tasted.  As  we 
w^ent  out  they  gave  us  each  an  enormous  box  of  choice 
sweets,  London's  very  best.  The  dinner  lasted  from 
five-thirty  to  ten-thirty.  Friendly  relations  between 
America  and  England  were  brought  out  in  some  of  the 
addresses,  and  as  usual  at  these  big  dinners,  a  touch  of 
English  politics.  From  the  dinner  I  went  to  the  Princess 
Theatre,  where  I  had  been  invited  by  Lord  Tenterden 
with  Mrs.  Pollock  and  a  few  others  in  his  party.  Irving 
was  acting  in  the  "Bells"  and  "Stratagem."  I  was  too 
late  to  see  the  "Bells"  which  was  one  of  his  favorite 
pieces,  but  the  "Stratagem"  I  enjoyed  very  much. 
Irving,  to  make  himself  appear  young,  rises  on  the  balls 
of  his  feet,  but  does  this  more  than  any  youth  in  real 
life,  so  produces  an  air  of  affectation  in  walking.  His 
phrasing  was  excellent,  though  his  voice  is  too  artificial, 
while  the  scenery  and  the  staging  showed  skill,  fore- 
thought, and  artistic  feeling.  I  passed  my  delicious  box 
of  candy  round  the  party,  and  one  of  the  ladies,  under- 
standing that  it  was  a  gift  to  her,  took  it  away,  rather 
to  my  inward  disappointment. 

Tuesday,  June  20 

Went  to  the  Claytons'  for  dinner  at  seven-thirty  at 
Stafford  Terrace,  Kensington  West.  Among  the  guests 
was  an  Irish  friend  of  Chief  Justice  Cockburn  who  had 


LORD  COCKBURN  AND  CALEB  GUSHING       331 

been  at  Geneva  with  him,  but  he  said  nothing  of  that 
famous  international  case.  Much  interesting  conversa- 
tion, some  of  it  on  American  women,  who  received  no 
Httle  praise,  which  I  was  glad  to  hear  for  they  are  so 
often  misjudged  as  a  class  on  account  of  the  few  con- 
spicuous nouveaux  riches. 

Wednesday,  June  21 

Breakfasted  again  with  Lord  Coleridge,  who  presented 
me  with  some  of  his  printed  speeches,  among  them  his 
argument  in  the  Saurin  vs.  Starr  case  — 1869  —  a  case 
of  alleged  petty  persecution  in  a  convent  which  excited 
great  public  interest,  and  his  still  greater  argument  in 
the  Tichborne  Claims  suits.  He  had  thoughtfully  put 
his  autograph  in  each.  Prayers  as  usual.  He  spoke  of 
the  India  questions.  He  said  that  there  was  very  little 
interest  in  Parliament  in  them.  That  w^as  one  of  the 
subjects  on  which  the  members  seemed  bribed,  they  had 
so  many  relatives  in  the  India  service  or  private  inter- 
ests there  of  various  kinds.  Of  course  Lord  Coleridge 
did  not  mean  direct  bribery,  but  that  sort  of  insidious 
self-interest  that  prevents  a  free  discussion  from  the 
point  of  view  of  the  good  of  the  natives. 

In  the  cab  going  to  the  court  he  spoke  again  of  Cock- 
burn  at  the  Alabama  trial  at  Geneva  and  of  how  he  lost 
the  influence  that  his  unusual  knowledge  of  languages 
and  law  should  have  given  him.  He  told  me  the  story, 
which  I  have  related  before,  of  Caleb  Gushing;  how 
Gushing,  one  of  the  counsel  for  the  United  States,  a 
linguist  perhaps  quite  as  good  as  Cockburn  himself, 
asked  in  what  language  —  German,  French,  Italian,  or 
English  —  the  court  would  prefer  to  be  addressed,  and 
how  Cockburn  leaned  forward  and  said,  in  almost 
angry  tones,  "In  Choctaw,  in  Choctaw." 


332     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

Coleridge  spoke  of  Admiral  Farragiit  and  his  intre- 
pidity. There  were  numerous  other  topics,  one  relating 
to  whitebait;  how  at  first  one  always  had  to  go  to  Green- 
wich until  it  suddenly  occurred  to  some  one  that  they 
could  carry  the  whitebait  to  London  as  well  as  carry 
themselves  to  the  old  town  down  the  river.  He  told  me 
some  story  about  briefless  barristers  which  I  forget, 
and  something  about  old  dogs  and  that  we  must  not 
believe  all  that  is  told  us  about  them,  and  then  of  trees, 
their  planting,  and  development,  and  some  story  about 
Sir  Roundell  Palmer,  now  Lord  Selborne. 

To-day  all  the  judges  wore  red  gowns.  Lord  Cock- 
burn,  while  listening,  was  working  his  jaw.  He  was  not 
chewing  anything,  but  just  moving  it  back  and  forth. 
The  Solicitor-General  who  was  arguing  spoke  of  the 
United  States  District  Courts  and  the  admiralty  juris- 
diction as  being  "Federal."  Lord  Cockburn  interrupted 
and  asked  him  what  he  meant  by  the  District  Court  and 
the  Federal  courts  of  the  United  States.  I  believe  there 
were  only  two  judges  out  of  the  fourteen  —  Lord  Cole- 
ridge and  Sir  Robert  Phillimore  —  who  seemed  to  know 
anything  about  the  distinction  between  them  and  the 
State  courts.  Sir  Robert  leaned  forward  and  gave  a 
very  clear  and  perfectly  accurate  account  of  this  dif- 
ference. 

Here  were  some  twelve  of  the  most  eminent  judges 
of  England  who  seemed  to  know  nothing  about  the 
Federal  courts  and  their  powers,  and  I  venture  to 
say  that  not  one  of  them  would  have  hesitated  to  have 
given  an  opinion  that  the  Southern  States  had  a  con- 
stitutional right  to  secede;  and  yet  the  establishment  of 
Federal  courts  which  have  jurisdiction  between  States, 
may  declare  a  State  law  unconstitutional  and  void,  and 
which  have  a  right  to  enforce  their  decrees  through  the 


ENGLISH  JUDGES  AND  AMERICAN  COURTS     333 

Executive,  should  have  great  weight  in  considering  the 
right  of  secession.  Apparently  these  judges  were  not 
aware  of  anything  but  State  courts  and  probably  were 
equally  ignorant  of  other  provisions  of  the  Constitu- 
tion, as  that  Congress  may  pass  laws  to  guarantee  re- 
publican form  of  government  in  the  various  States, 
that  the  Constitution  is  the  highest  law  of  the  country, 
and  that  Congress  has  supreme  authority  where  the 
Constitution  has  given  it  a  right  to  act. 

Left  in  the  early  afternoon  and  went  to  Mrs.  Fowler's 
"at  home"  from  four-thirty  to  six.  Mrs.  Fowler  is  a 
very  interesting  invalid,  drawing  about  her  many  lit- 
erary, musical,  and  theatrical  people  of  the  best  sort. 
There  was  much  brilliant  and  interesting  conversation 
on  books,  authors,  the  stage,  music,  and  politics.  It 
was  almost  like  a  French  salon  without  the  delicacy  and 
refinement  of  French  wit. 

Dined  with  Mr.  Ferguson.  There  were  present  a 
recent  graduate  of  Caius  (pronounced  Keyes)  College, 
Oxford,  and  a  captain  belonging  to  the  British  service 
in  India.  Having  these  engagements  I  had  to  refuse 
an  invitation  to  go  for  a  pleasant  coaching  party  to 
Oxford  and  back  given  me  by  Mr.  Sands,  the  American 
yachtsman  whom  I  had  met. 

Thursday,  June  22 

A  VERY  kind  letter  from  Mr.  Ferguson  to  bring  my 
classmates  Wigglesworth  and  Sanger  to  dine  with  him 
in  the  House  of  Commons.  They,  however,  were  away 
and  I  had  already  accepted  an  invitation  to  dine  with 
Lanyon  at  the  Reform  Club.  Lunched  at  the  Reform 
Club,  where  the  service  is  so  wonderfully  good  and  the 
cooking  excellent  and  where  one  who  has  been  chosen  an 
honorary  member  is  made  to  feel  so  much  at  home  and 


334     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

not  de  irop  as  when  I  first  went  there  as  a  mere  visitor. 
INIade  various  calls  in  the  afternoon.  After  a  pleasant 
dinner  with  Lanyon  at  the  club,  during  which  he  offered 
to  do  many  things  for  me,  he  took  me  to  the  Alhambra 
Theatre.  The  performance  was  of  a  very  dull  sort  with 
a  great  deal  of  ballet  and  not  much  of  any  plot,  and  the 
music  rather  second-rate.  In  the  intervals  we  talked 
over  American  politics,  over  the  question  of  the  respon- 
sibility of  Ministers  to  the  House  of  Commons,  and 
whether  it  would  be  well  to  extend  that  system  to  the 
House  of  Representatives  in  Congress  in  the  United 
States,  to  the  extent  at  least  that  members  of  the 
President's  Cabinet  might  sit  in  the  House,  speak  and 
be  interrogated;  whether  it  would  not  make  Congress  a 
more  responsible  body  and  their  debates  more  interest- 
ing and  bring  the  Administration's  view  to  bear  more 
directly  upon  legislation,  as  well  as  to  secure  informa- 
tion through  this  direct  questioning.  On  the  other  hand, 
there  was  the  fear  that  Congress  might  get  too  much 
power  over  the  Executive.  Again,  however,  was  the 
argument  that  the  Executive  would  have  a  splendid 
opportunity  to  present  its  views  to  the  public,  such  as  it 
does  not  have  in  its  formal  reports  to  Congress  which 
are  read  in  that  body  only  by  title.  (President  Wilson 
has  since  revived  the  early  custom  of  reading  his  most 
important  messages  to  the  Congress  assembled,  with 
great  effect.) 

Friday,  June  23 

Dinner  at  Mr.  Smalley's.  There  were  present  Mr. 
Brownson,  Dr.  Priestley,  and  Mr.  Henry  Tuke  Parker. 
Brownson  is  the  son  of  the  celebrated  Roman  Catholic 
philosopher  of  America,  who  died  last  spring  (1875). 
The  son  is  preparing  to  publish  his  father's  writings  and 


INIATRONS  AT  ENGLISH  BALLS  335 

life.  Smalley  told  us  he  got  the  prophecy  of  Hayes's 
nomination  from  Mr.  Washburne,  our  Minister  in 
Paris.  This  was  very  fair-minded  of  Smalley,  who 
might  have  got  great  credit  to  himself  for  his  astuteness 
in  predicting  the  event. 

After  this  dinner  I  attended  a  large  ball  at  Welles's 
rooms  at  the  invitation  of  Mrs.  Pollock.  Welles's  is  one 
of  the  most  fashionable  halls  for  large  London  parties. 
The  dancing  was  confined  to  the  centre  of  the  room, 
which  was  roped  off  with  handsome  crimson  cord 
stretched  on  substantial  stands.  The  mothers  and  ma- 
trons sit  about  the  outer  edge  of  the  hall  and  every 
young  lady  is  attached  to  one  of  these;  so  that  after  a 
turn  at  dancing,  perhaps  followed  by  a  short  promenade, 
one  always  takes  the  young  lady  back  to  her  matron. 
This  has  one  enormous  advantage  over  our  American 
system  of  no  individual  matrons  at  all;  none  but  two  or 
three  to  preside  in  general.  Here  a  man  is  never  obliged 
to  sit  out  a  long  time  with  the  same  young  lady,  as 
frequently  happens  in  American  society.  As  a  conse- 
quence, in  England  the  men  are  much  more  ready  to 
dance  with  young  ladies  who  are  not  especially  popular, 
and  it  does  not  exaggerate  the  attention  to  the  favorites 
and  inattention  to  the  "wall-flowers,"  which  our  sys- 
tem inevitably  does. 

I  found  a  very  charming  partner  in  a  Miss  Heatly, 
who  danced  much  better  than  most  English  girls.  I 
went  home  at  three-thirty,  when  the  ball  had  begun 
to  thin  out.  The  light  was  so  bright  in  the  streets  that 
one  could  read  a  newspaper  easily.  I  was  also  invited 
to  a  Caledonian  costume  ball  at  a  later  date,  but  had 
to  give  that  up  on  account  of  other  previous  engage- 
ments. 


S36    HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

Saturday,  June  24 

At  Pembroke  Lodge  in  the  afternoon  for  tea.  Warm, 
mild,  rare  day  in  June.  At  dinner  were  two  Miss 
Ogilvys,  daughters,  I  beheve,  of  the  seventh  Earl  of 
Airlie,  and  if  so,  then  Lady  Henrietta  and  Lady  Maud, 
and  their  aunt  Lady  Maria  Ogilvy;  the  Honorable 
George  William  Russell,  Lady  Agatha,  and  Professor 
Richard  Owen,  professor  in  the  Royal  College  of  Sur- 
geons and  now  the  Superintendent  of  the  Natural  His- 
tory Department  of  the  British  Museum,  living  near 
by  in  Richmond.  (Later  he  was  knighted  for  his  great 
work  in  developing  the  Natural  History  Department.) 
RoUo  Russell  was  away.  Professor  Owen  said  Newton 
was  not  an  accident  any  more  than  Plato  or  Aristotle. 
We  discussed  Descartes  and  a  good  deal  of  philosophy 
in  general. 

I  had  received  an  invitation  from  the  Prime  Minister, 
Disraeli,  to  meet  His  Royal  Highness  the  Prince  of 
Wales  at  ten-thirty  this  evening.  I  had  arranged  with 
a  cabman  to  take  me  to  a  train  at  Richmond  that  would 
get  me  to  London  for  this  reception,  but  the  wretch 
never  turned  up  and  when  the  time  for  his  appearance 
had  passed,  it  was  too  late  to  catch  that  or  any  other 
train  that  would  get  me  from  Richmond  to  London  in 
time.  So  I  missed  this  interesting  reception  by  a  mere 
accident.  I  ought  to  have  offered  the  coachman  double 
fare  to  insure  his  coming.  It  was  good  Lord  Tenterden 
who  had  secured  this  invitation  for  me,  telling  me  that 
it  was  readily  granted  by  Disraeh,  who  knew  of  my 
father  and  had  heard  of  my  being  in  England. 

Sunday,  June  25 

Spent  the  night  at  Pembroke  Lodge  and  went  with  the 

family  to  church  at  eleven-fifteen,  walking  through  the 


SIR  STAFFORD  NORTHCOTE  337 

park  and  seeing  the  deer,  and  again  we  had  the  old- 
fashioned  beadle  in  his  party-colored  gown.  We  had  an 
informal  lunch,  but  without  Lord  Russell,  who  had  not 
come  downstairs.  After  lunch  we  walked  about  the 
grounds  and  Lady  Russell  repeated  some  lines  by 
Bryant  which  had  been  a  great  comfort  to  her  son, 
Viscount  Amberley,  in  his  last  illness.  She  wanted  me 
to  let  Bryant  know  of  this  and  promised  to  write  the 
lines  out.  I  told  her  I  knew  Bryant  personally  and  he 
was  a  great  friend  of  my  grandfather,  who  gave  such 
high  praise  in  his  literary  criticism  of  Bryant's  "Thana- 
topsis"  that  there  has  always  been  a  pleasant  feeling 
between  the  families  and  a  long  correspondence. 

Walking  up  the  steep  path  I  gave  my  arm  to  Lady 
Russell,  who  is  just  a  little  past  sixty,  and  though  seem- 
ingly very  well,  is  troubled  in  going  uphill.  The  Right 
Honorable  Sir  Stafford  Northcote  and  his  daughter.  Lord 
Romilly  and  his  daughter,  and  Lord  Plunket  came  in  the 
afternoon.  A  little  lawn  tennis  was  played  on  the  old 
bowling  green,  so  lovely  and  velvety  and  shut  in  by 
high,  flowering  shrubs.  Northcote,  the  eighth  baronet, 
born  in  1818,  had  high  honors  at  Oxford,  has  received 
no  end  of  big  appointments  and  responsibilities,  and  is 
now  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  and  in  Disraeli's 
Cabinet.  He  was  on  the  Joint  High  Commission  at 
Washington  that  drew  up  the  treaty  referring  the 
Alabama  difficulties  to  arbitration.  He  is  said  to  have 
shown  great  conciliatory  powers.  He  is  a  thorough 
gentleman,  but  seems  rather  mild  in  his  manners  and 
opinions  for  a  hard  fighter  in  the  House  of  Commons. 
(He  became  a  few  weeks  later  the  leader  of  the  House  of 
Commons  when  Disraeli  was  elevated  to  the  House  of 
Lords.  In  1885  Northcote  was  made  Earl  of  Iddesleigh.) 

Lord  Romilly  lately  succeeded  his  father,  the  cele- 


338    HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

brated  Baron  Romilly,  Solicitor-General,  Attorney- 
General,  Master  of  the  Rolls,  and  long  a  leading  mem- 
ber of  the  House  of  Commons. 

Had  afternoon  tea  at  which  Lady  Edith  Quin,  daugh- 
ter of  the  third  Earl  of  Dunraven,  turned  up.  She  was 
somewhat  my  senior  and  had  that  charm  for  a  young 
man  that  a  slightly  older  woman  so  often  has.  There 
were  more  men  present  than  ladies,  a  rather  unusual 
state  of  affairs  for  an  afternoon  tea  in  the  suburbs. 

Lady  Russell  spoke  about  natural  manners  —  that  is, 
manners  prompted  by  a  good  heart  that  come  naturally 
to  one  who  has  been  used  to  meeting  cultivated  people. 
She  admitted  that  a  good  heart  alone  would  not  always 
bring  good  manners,  for  want  of  experience,  but  she  had 
a  dislike  to  the  outward  veneer  without  a  good  heart 
behind  it,  as  the  imitation  was  sure  to  show  sooner  oi 
later  and  would  always  lack  spontaneity  and  freedom. 
Lord  Russell,  who  appeared  at  the  afternoon  tea,  dis- 
coursed on  Sir  Walter  Scott  and  his  personal  reminis- 
cences of  him  and  how  Scott  had  ruined  the  last  part 
of  his  life  by  spending  so  much  money  on  Abbotsford 
and  getting  in  heart-breaking  debt. 

Monday,  June  26 

The  day  of  the  Duke  of  Argyll's  reception.  Opened  my 
eyes  on  another  beautiful  June  day  at  Pembroke  Lodge. 
Soon  after  breakfast  Lady  Russell  went  off  and  I  re- 
turned to  London.  She  forgot  to  write  out  the  lines  of 
Bryant.  (But  later  she  sent  them  to  me.  I  forwarded 
them  to  Bryant  with  a  note  and  he  sent  back  a  pleasant 
letter,  which  I  mailed  to  the  Countess.)  Went  with  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Ernest  Longfellow  and  their  cousin  Miss  Mary 
Longfellow,  of  Portland,  Maine,  to  the  Oxford  and 
Cambridge  cricket  match  at  Lords.    I  had   played 


A  CRICKET  MATCH  AT  LORDS  339 

cricket  at  St.  Paul's  School,  where  I  was  captain  of  both 
the  school  and  my  club  eleven,  so  I  watched  the  play 
with  a  critical  interest  and  was  delighted  to  be  at  Lords, 
the  scene  of  so  many  wonderful  matches.  There  were 
many  drags  and  handsome  carriages,  fashionable 
dresses,  and  elaborate  luncheons,  with  much  beauty 
among  the  women  and  fine  figures  and  faces  among  the 
men.  This  is  one  of  the  great  social  events  of  the  Lon- 
don season.  Parts  of  the  match  were  quite  brilliant, 
with  some  long  hitting,  but  there  were  periods  of  block- 
ing and  nothing  going  on.  There  were  long  intervals  for 
lunch  and  afternoon  tea. 

Dined  at  the  Reform  Club  and  after  dinner  went  to 
Argyll  Lodge,  where  I  met  the  Duke  and  Duchess,  Glad- 
stone, and  others.  Gladstone  talked  on  Greece  and 
asked  me  many  questions.  He  wanted  to  know  about 
the  inhabitants,  whether  they  were  being  well  educated, 
becoming  industrious,  etc.,  and  asked  me  about  the 
bookshops  in  particular.  I  told  him  that  I  went  into  all 
the  bookshops  there  were  in  Athens  and  the  books 
seemed  mostly  intended  for  travelers  —  books  in  Ger- 
man, English,  and  French.  There  were,  of  course, 
Greek  newspapers,  but  I  did  not  see  any  Greeks  in  the 
bookshops  nor  did  they  seem  to  be  intended  for  Greeks, 
though,  of  course,  some  of  the  Greeks  dress  in  European 
costume  and  read  modern  languages,  so  that  some  few 
natives  might  have  visited  these  bookshops  without  my 
knowing  it.  I  told  him  the  short,  deep-plaited  white 
skirt  of  the  men,  with  short  jacket,  and  white  leggings, 
was  still  much  worn  in  Athens,  but  the  European,  in  the 
sense  of  French  and  English,  costumes  were  coming  rap- 
idly into  use. 

I  could  not  tell  him  about  the  modern  methods  of 
education  or  how  far  the  Government  was  establishing 


340     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

free  schools,  except  that  I  saw  no  large  public  school 
buildings  such  as  we  have  in  the  United  States,  and, 
therefore,  I  gathered  that  they  could  not  have  adopted 
any  extensive  system  of  state  or  municipal  education, 
though  I  knew  there  was  some  education  at  public  ex- 
pense I  had  heard  of,  but  that  was  of  the  lower  primary 
grades.  I  told  him  I  had  heard  that  there  was  very  little, 
if  any,  artistic  talent  among  the  school  children  at 
Athens.  I  said,  too,  that  the  inhabitants  were  not  in- 
dustrious, were  great  talkers,  fumbling  strings  of  beads, 
not  as  a  religious  ceremony,  but  as  a  help  to  conversa- 
tion; that  they  were  inclined  to  be  idle,  and  the  peas- 
ants, even  in  the  neighborhood  of  Athens,  used  very 
old-fashioned  methods  of  agriculture.  On  the  whole, 
my  observation  of  modern  conditions  had  been  only 
too  superficial  and  I  felt  like  a  college  student  who 
was  called  up  unprepared  and  was  trying  to  make  the 
most  of  what  little  knowledge  he  had  to  cover  his 
deficiencies. 

Gladstone  spoke  of  Bonamy  Price  and  of  his  ability 
and  earnestness.  Lord  and  Lady  Selborne  were  there 
and  spoke  very  kindly  to  me.  There  were  also  Lord 
Walter  Campbell  and  his  wife,  the  Marquis  of  Lome, 
and  several  of  the  daughters  of  the  Duke,  but  Princess 
Louise  was  absent.  I  met  there  a  Lady  Palmer  who 
was  particularly  agreeable.  I  think  she  must  have  been 
the  wife  of  Sir  Archdale  Palmer,  Bart.,  and  if  so,  she 
is  a  daughter  of  Earl  Ferrers.  It  was  one  of  those  very 
pleasant  receptions  where  natural  good  manners,  such 
as  Lady  Russell  spoke  of,  prevailed,  and  I  quite  forgot 
that  I  was  with  such  distinguished  people  in  the  ease  and 
naturalness  of  all  the  conversation,  excepting  perhaps 
when  I  was  being  cross-questioned  by  Gladstone. 


RT.-IION.  WILLIAM  E.  GLADSTONE 


BREAKFAST  WITH  MONTAGUE  BERNARD      341 

Tuesday,  June  27 

Breakfasted  at  the  Oxford  and  Cambridge  Club  with 
Mountague  Bernard,  the  celebrated  English  interna- 
tional lawyer,  one  of  the  High  Joint  Commissioners  to 
the  United  States  and  signer  of  the  Treaty  of  Washing- 
ton; also  assistant  counsel  for  the  English  in  the  Ala- 
bama  arbitration  at  Geneva  and  till  recently  a  professor 
of  international  law  at  Oxford.  I  was  very  glad  to  meet 
him,  especially  as  my  father  thought  so  highly  of  him. 
We  had  no  profound  conversation;  my  fault,  I  suppose, 
as  I  should  have  drawn  him  out,  but  it  takes  some 
little  cleverness  and  experience  to  draw  a  man  out  on 
his  specialty  without  its  being  too  patent  an  effort.  I 
could  not  have  asked  him  to  give  a  lecture  on  inter- 
national law. 

(I  did  not  then  know  that  he  had  written  a  letter 
on  the  Trent  Affair  after  the  news  of  the  capture  of 
Mason  and  Slidell  had  become  known  in  London.  Had 
I  been  aware  of  this  letter  I  might  have  asked  him  the 
grounds  for  his  opinion,  which  was  that,  while  the  tak- 
ing was  in  accord  with  old  English  law,  England  had 
abandoned  those  principles  long  ago.  She  had,  how- 
ever, as  a  matter  of  fact,  officially  refused  to  abandon 
her  old  claims  only  two  or  three  years  before  the  cap- 
ture of  these  gentlemen.) 

He  was  very  kind  in  offering  to  aid  me  in  various 
ways  and  talked  pleasantly  of  his  regret  at  my  father's 
not  being  appointed  Minister  to  Great  Britain  and  of 
the  value  of  his  notes  to  Wheaton's  "International 
Law."  From  so  great  an  authority  this  was  a  high 
compliment,  indeed.  (A  recent  high  compliment  has 
been  paid  these  notes  in  that  the  Carnegie  Endowment, 
in  getting  up  a  new  edition  of  "Wheaton's  "Interna- 
tional Law,"  is  to  use  Dana's  notes  as  the  foundation 


342    HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

and  starting-point  for  the  new  work,  which  is  to  deal 
with  events  since  Dana's  notes  were  written.) 

Drove  to  Windsor  on  a  coach  and  four  from  London 
with  the  Longfellows,  back  to  Twickenham  by  rail,  and 
then  we  rowed  in  a  small  boat  on  the  Thames  downstream 
to  Richmond ;  a  remarkably  pleasant  excursion.  A  water- 
man rowed  the  boat  back,  for  a  shilling  or  two.  From 
Richmond  returned  by  train  to  London.  I  had  declined 
a  dinner  with  Lord  Coleridge  this  evening  for  fear  of 
being  late  in  getting  back,  having  already  made  ar- 
rangements for  this  trip.  Lord  Coleridge,  in  a  letter 
on  my  arrival  in  London,  explained  that  he  was  in 
mourning  for  his  father  and  therefore  could  not  enter- 
tain me  as  he  would  have  liked  to  do,  but  with  the 
numerous  breakfasts  and  his  second  invitation  to  dinner 
he  could  hardly  have  done  more  excepting  to  allow 
me  to  meet  a  greater  number  of  distinguished  people 
among  his  friends  at  a  larger  dinner.  In  the  evening 
went  to  hear  Albani  in  "Faust."  The  audience  was 
cold  and  some  people  were  going  out  during  the  prayer 
scene  and  destroying  the  artistic  effect. 

Wednesday,  June  28 

Breakfasted  with  the  Longfellows.  Called  on  Edward 
Dicey,  who  was  at  home;  on  the  Argylls,  who  were  out; 
Lord  Coleridge,  out;  Sir  John  Kennaway,  out;  Mrs. 
Rowcliffe,  out;  and  Mrs.  Pollock,  who  was  at  home. 
Dicey  was  unfailingly  interesting.  The  call  was  short. 
Dined  at  the  Russell  Gurneys'  and  took  in  Mrs. 
Gurney  and  sat  at  her  right.  I  had  to  decline  a  musicale 
at  the  Reverend  H.  R.  Haweis's  for  this  same  evening. 
The  dinner  was  a  large  one,  some  twenty  or  more  people 
being  present,  many  of  them  quite  distinguished.  As 
the  dinner  went  on  I  heard  some  one  farther  down  on 


BONAMY  PRICE'S  VOICE  343 

the  opposite  side  of  the  table  talking  very  loud  and 
monopolizing  much  of  the  conversation.  The  tone  of 
voiee  instantly  recalled  to  my  mind  an  imitative  story 
that  my  father  told  of  Professor  Bonamy  Price  at  the 
Union  Club  in  Boston.  The  dinner  had  been^given  for 
Price.  My  father  was  presiding.  Price  sat  at  his  right 
and  just  beyond  him.  President  Eliot.  Professor  Price 
shouted  out  that  he  did  not  believe  in  a  constitution 
which  never  could  be  amended  and  did  not  see  how  the 
people  of  the  United  States  could  endure  it.  Then  my 
father  and  President  Eliot  each  tried  to  explain  to  him 
that  it  was  possible  to  amend  the  Constitution,  but  to 
their  first  few  suggestions  he  repeated  his  words,  "Of 
course  your  constitution  cannot  be  amended,"  in  a 
raucous  voice.  Then  when  it  began  to  dawn  on  him 
what  they  were  saying,  he  replied,  "WTiat!  What!  Do 
you  mean  to  say  that  you  can  amend  your  Constitu- 
tion.'^ Why,  any  constitution  that  can  be  amended  is  no 
constitution  at  all.  It  is  not  different  from  a  law  if  it 
can  be  amended."  Then  my  father  and  President  Eliot 
took  him  gently  in  hand  and  began  to  explain  that 
while  it  could  be  amended,  it  took  much  more  time,  for- 
mality, and  consideration  than  an  amendment  to  a  law, 
and  eventually  it  had  to  be  adopted  by  three  quarters 
of  the  States  to  be  valid. 

My  father's  imitation  of  the  voice;  of  the  persistent, 
loud  assertion,  and  the  wild  defense,  coming  as  it  did 
in  a  flash,  made  me  exclaim  to  myself,  "  I  believe  that  is 
Bonamy  Price ! "  though  I  had  not  the  slightest  idea  that 
he  was  going  to  be  at  this  dinner,  and  I  asked  Mrs. 
Gurney  if  it  were  he  and  she  said  it  was. 

At  the  end  of  the  dinner,  when  it  was  time  for  the 
ladies  to  retire,  Mrs.  Gurney  made  several  attempts  to 
rise,  but  Price  was  talking  so  loud  and  persistently  that 


344     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

she  had  to  wait  long  for  an  opportunity  without  in- 
terrupting, when  suddenly  Price  turned  to  her  for  con- 
firmation of  something  he  had  just  been  stating.  She 
then  answered  him  quite  slowly  and  rose  at  the  end 
of  her  remark  which  just  gave  her  the  chance.  It 
seemed  so  strange  that  Professor  Price,  who  is  a  Pro- 
fessor of  Political  Economy  at  Oxford,  should  not  have 
known  that  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  was 
amendable  and  have  had  some  faint  impression  as  to 
how  an  amendment  could  be  brought  about.  He,  how- 
ever, is  a  dear  man  when  you  come  to  know  him  better, 
as  I  found  from  a  little  talk.  It  is  largely  a  matter  of 
habit  with  him,  a  sort  of  thinking  aloud  —  very  much 
aloud.  After  the  ladies  had  gone,  the  conversation 
turned  on  the  subject  of  the  row  at  Constantinople  —  a 
German  by  the  name  of  Mr.  Weiser,  a  boy's  tutor,  a 
protest  to  the  German  Government,  a  girl  at  the  Deacon- 
ess's School,  a  scene  in  Smyrna,  a  boy  recognizing  the 
tutor  in  a  mosque,  etc. 

After  dinner  I  went  by  invitation  of  Baroness  Bur- 
dett-Coutts  to  a  reading  at  her  house  by  Henry  Irving. 
He  read  "Macbeth."  In  some  respects  his  reading 
seemed  more  perfect  than  his  acting  on  account  of  his 
dropping  some  of  his  stage  mannerisms  which  are  not 
always  suitable  to  the  part  and  so  often  spoil  the  illu- 
sion which  good  acting  ought  to  produce.  A  large  and 
fashionable  gathering  in  a  great  house ;  recognized  many 
friends.  The  Baroness  appeared  at  her  best  and  gave 
me  a  very  cordial  greeting. 

Thursday,  June  29 

Lunched  with  young  Gurney,  nephew  of  Russell  Gur- 
ney,  at  the  Devonshire  Club.  He  was  on  the  committee 
of  investigation  of  spiritualistic  phenomena.    He  told 


SPIRITUALISM  AND  PRESTIDIGITATION        345 

me  that  almost  every  single  case  that  they  had  investi- 
gated could  easily  be  explained  as  tricks,  for  Anderson, 
the  celebrated  prestidigitator,  whose  widow  has  been 
giving  them  help,  when  living  could  do  the  same  things 
with  one  single  exception,  and  that  exceptional  case 
after  all  seemed  to  be  only  a  trick  just  one  step  more 
difficult  than  the  others.  This  latter  was  this.  A  woman 
was  sewed  up  in  a  bag  which  was  sealed  with  sealing 
wax  and  stamped  by  the  private  seals  of  some  of  the 
audience.  She  w^as  then  put  behind  a  curtain  in  a  hotel 
where  there  could  be  no  trapdoors  or  other  such  ar- 
rangements, and  the  committee  remained  all  the  while 
in  the  same  room.  She  then  appeared  outside  of  the 
bag,  with  the  seals  unbroken  when  the  curtain  was  re- 
moved. Henry  Irving,  the  actor,  came  into  the  club 
during  lunch,  but  we  did  not  talk  with  him,  receiving 
only  a  bow. 

I  went  down  to  the  city  with  Mr.  Gurney  to  see  some 
of  the  great  London  banking  and  financial  ofiices.  Called 
on  the  Spencers,  who  were  out,  and  Lady  Coleridge,  who 
was  at  home. 

I  had  to  decline  an  invitation  for  this  evening  with 
Sir  Robert  and  Lady  Phillimore  for  dinner,  having  pre- 
viously accepted  an  invitation  to  dine  with  Sir  Henry 
Thompson,  F.R.C.S.,  the  celebrated  surgeon  and  Pro- 
fessor of  Clinical  Surgery  in  University  College  Hospital. 
He  is  about  fifty-six  years  of  age  and  has  a  charming, 
cordial  manner.  He  is  generally  admitted  to  be  the 
leading  surgeon  in  Great  Britain,  yet  he  is  not  narrowly 
confined  in  his  resources  to  his  profession,  but  is  a  col- 
lector of  rare  china,  an  astronomer,  an  artist  in  painting 
and  etching,  some  of  his  works  being  hung  in  the  Royal 
Academy  and  at  the  Paris  Salon,  and  in  his  own  pro- 
fession has  made  discoveries  and  dared  new  kinds  of 


346     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

operation.  He  is  also  much  interested  in  dinners  as  a 
fine  art,  in  both  the  selection  of  food  and  company.  He 
told  me  that  the  number  should  not  be  over  Horace's 
rule  of  nine,  the  number  of  the  Muses,  and  he  usually 
had  eight,  for  with  more  than  eight  he  thought  general 
conversation  was  impossible  and  it  is  general  conversa- 
tion that  lightens  up  a  dinner.  Eight  requires  a  broad 
table  with  two  at  each  end  to  have  the  host  and  hostess 
opposite.  He  had  eight  courses  also.  He  is  the  author 
of  several  works  on  his  subject  and  on  some  outside 
matters.  He  said  he  was  glad  to  see  me,  first  on  my 
account  and  second  on  my  father's,  a  very  flattering 
way  of  putting  it.  (He  was  later  made  a  baronet  for 
his  distinguished  services.) 

There  I  met  Sir  Robert  Collier,  the  "Right  Honor- 
able," formerly  Solicitor-General  and  Attorney-Gen- 
eral, and  now  a  judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas, 
member  of  the  Privy  Council,  and  author  of  various 
books  on  law.  He  told  me  that  he  thought  Dana's 
notes  on  "Wheaton"  the  best  source  of  international 
law  and  spoke  of  the  Winslow  case,  saying  that  he  be- 
lieved England  was  wrong  in  her  attitude.  This  is  the 
case  of  a  man  who  had  committed  forgery  in  the  United 
States  and  had  fled  to  Great  Britain.  Earl  Derby,  now 
Foreign  Secretary,  refused  to  give  him  up  unless  the 
American  Government  would  give  an  undertaking  that 
he  and  other  fugitives  would  not  be  tried  for  any  of- 
fense other  than  the  one  for  which  their  extradition 
was  asked.  The  United  States  declined  to  make  any 
stipulations  and  assurances  not  provided  for  in  the 
treaty  which  now  governs  the  situation.  (Later  in  the 
same  year  the  British  receded  from  this  position  and 
surrendered  the  fugitives,' the  American  Administration 
indicating  that  they  were  not  disposed  to  try  extradited 


BREAKFAST  WITH  SIR  JOHN  KENNAWAY       347 

offenders  for  any  crime  other  than  that  which  had 
caused  their  surrender.)  Sir  Robert  Colher  is  fond  of 
painting  and  we  talked  of  sketching,  how  to  produce 
atmosphere,  and  the  effect  of  distance.  He  went  to 
India  with  the  Prince  of  Wales  on  his  recent  trip.  We 
talked  on  the  iron  trade  question.  He  said  that  the 
emigrants  were  "not  starved  out  on  the  White  Star 
Line,"  as  stated  in  some  of  the  newspapers. 

On  the  way  home  I  called  at  Sir  Robert  Phillimore's 
to  meet  the  guests  after  his  dinner,  which  I  had  been 
unable  to  attend.  Canon  Liddon  and  Lady  Phillimore 
were  there  and  very  kind.  They  w^ere  quite  jolly,  threat- 
ening to  keep  me  as  a  hostage  until  my  father  was 
brought  over  as  Minister  to  England. 

Friday,  June  30 

Breakfasted  with  Sir  John  and  Lady  Kennaway  at 
nine-thirty  and  a  number  of  guests,  about  ten  in  all. 
It  was  a  very  heavy  breakfast,  as  is  usually  the  case 
in  England,  where  but  few  have  adopted  the  French 
menu  for  this  meal.  They  had  a  variety  of  meats  and 
eggs,  beside  coffee,  toast,  rolls,  and  marmalade,  the 
guests  for  the  most  part  waiting  on  each  other.  All 
left  promptly,  right  after  breakfast,  according  to  the 
usual  custom.  It  is  this  custom  that  enables  breakfasts 
and  lunches  to  be  given  without  breaking  up  a  large 
part  of  the  day. 

I  sat  next  to  Lady  Kennaway  and  she  divulged  sev- 
eral plans  which  she  and  her  husband  were  proposing 
for  me  to  join  in  with  them.  However,  I  was  not  able 
to  accept  on  account  of  leaving  so  soon  for  the  Conti- 
nent. I  have  been  receiving  many  very  kind  letters 
so  warm-hearted  that  I  feel  I  have  made  real  friends 
with  many  of  these  good  people  and  I  have  come  to 


348    HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

have  a  strong  affection  for  them.  Earl  Spencer  has 
just  written  me  that  he  has  been  out  of  town  on  business 
most  of  the  time  since  my  last  return  to  London,  with 
an  invitation  to  luncheon  which  I  cannot  accept  on 
account  of  having  made  arrangements  to  go  to  Henley, 
and  the  letter  ends  up  with  saying,  "Lady  Spencer 
and  I  will  be  truly  unhappy  to  have  altogether  missed 
you." 

Among  other  interesting  men  I  met  was  Mr.  James 
Bryce,  professor  of  civil  law  at  Oxford  and  author  of 
"The  Holy  Roman  Empire."  (Later  he  wrote  "The 
American  Commonwealth,"  was  ambassador  to  the 
United  States,  and  is  now  Lord  Bryce,  a  man  of  great 
distinction  and  high  honors,  who  is  still  doing  much 
useful  work  at  the  age  of  eighty-two  and  whose  mind  is 
as  keen  and  memory  as  sure  as  it  was  years  ago.  When 
ambassador  at  Washington,  he  and  his  wife  invited 
Mrs.  Dana  and  myself  on  several  occasions  to  lunch, 
dinner,  or  afternoon  tea.)  Another  distinguished  per- 
son was  Mr.  Lyon  Playfair,  a  well-known  scientist,  a 
member  of  Parliament  and  recently  Postmaster-Gen- 
eral in  Gladstone's  cabinet.  (He  was  made  K.C.B.  in 
1883  and  raised  to  the  peerage  in  1892  under  the  title 
of  Lord  Playfair  of  St.  Andrew's.  He  died  in  1898.) 

Many  have  called  at  my  small  lodgings,  as  Sir  John 
Kennaway,  Sir  William  Vernon  Harcourt,  the  great 
Gladstone,  Sir  Henry  Thompson,  and  several  others. 
Kennaway  was  afraid  I  was  not  comfortable  and  thought 
I  ought  to  have  larger  rooms  and  a  separate  parlor,  but 
I  told  him,  while  I  might  afford  it,  I  was  so  much  out  of 
my  rooms  and  had  the  privilege  of  so  many  clubs  that 
I  hardly  needed  this  extra  room  and  did  not  like  to 
put  the  unnecessary  expense  on  my  father  who  had  a 
large  family,  and  that  I  was  very  happy  as  I  was,  with 


BOAT-RACES  AT  HENLEY  349 

all  my  kind  friends  and  overflowing  English  hospitality, 
and  he  said  he  respected  my  attitude.  I  have  one  good- 
sized  room  with  writing-table,  book-shelves,  comfortable 
chairs,  etc. 

After  the  Kennaway  breakfast  went  to  Henley  to  see 
the  boat-races  with  the  Longfellow  party.  It  was  a  most 
lively  scene  with  the  Chiltern  Hills  for  a  background. 
The  surface  of  the  river  was  almost  invisible  from  the 
number  of  boats  and  punts  of  various  kinds  which  were 
pushed  to  the  banks  when  the  various  races  came  ofip, 
leaving  just  room  for  the  racing  crews,  and  as  soon  as 
one  heat  or  race  was  over,  the  surface  seemed  to  be 
covered  again. 

It  is  a  short  course  of  one  and  five  sixteenths  miles, 
rowed  upstream,  equal  to  nearly  two  miles  on  still  w  ater. 
I  saw  there  Goldie,  the  celebrated  Cambridge  stroke, 
and  also  Tinne,  the  captain  and  largest  man  of  the  four- 
oar  that  defeated  the  Harvard  four  in  1869.  Though  an 
Oxford  man  he  was  wearing  the  Cambridge  University 
light  blue  boating  coat,  probably  one  he  had  borrowed 
from  a  friend.  It  was  a  bright,  sunny  day  and  the  people 
were  dressed  in  gay  colors.  The  races  occupied  a  long 
time,  as  there  were  several  and  most  of  them  rowed  in 
heats.  We  only  saw  the  crews  distinctly  toward  the  end 
of  each  race;  the  course  was  just  short  enough  to  make 
the  contest  pretty  much  of  a  spurt  all  the  way  and  the 
men  seemed  to  be  badly  used  up  in  all  the  races  that 
were  close.  This  tends  to  prove  what  I  have  always 
contended,  that  a  short  race  of  two  miles  or  so,  in  which 
the  crews  can  spurt  nearly  all  the  way,  is  more  exhaust- 
ing and  more  likely  to  be  injurious  to  the  men  than  a 
four-mile  one  where  the  crews  must  settle  down  to  long, 
steady  work,  where  skill  and  perfection  of  rhythm  rowed 
at  a  slower  stroke  count  for  more  than  mere  spurting. 


350    HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

On  the  whole  the  rowing  was  excellent.  People  took 
their  luncheons  on  the  banks  or  in  the  boats.  I  got 
Mr.  William  Bradford,  who  had  been  so  kind  to  me  at 
Cambridge  lately,  to  join  us. 

I  was  to  dine  this  evening  with  Mr.  Lewis  Loyd,  20 
Hyde  Park  Gardens,  and  had  looked  up  the  trains  and 
found  the  one  I  should  have  to  take  in  order  to  get  back 
and  dress  in  time  for  the  dinner.  I  left  before  the  races 
were  over  and  before  the  Longfellows  were  to  return.  At 
the  station  I  found  great  confusion.  The  train  started 
late  and  we  were  so  held  up  by  extra  trains  on  the  way 
that  I  did  not  arrive  in  the  London  station  till  very 
nearly  dinner-time,  which  was  nominally  seven-forty- 
five,  that  is  actually  eight.  I  did  not  have  the  Loyds' 
address  with  me  so  that  I  could  not  send  a  message,  and 
all  I  could  do  was  to  fee  the  cabman  to  drive  at  full 
speed  to  my  lodgings,  dress  as  quickly  as  I  could,  and 
hurry  to  the  dinner,  finishing  putting  on  my  collar  and 
tying  my  cravat  in  the  hansom.  Wlien  I  arrived  the 
party  had  just  sat  down,  but  I  learned  to  my  regret  that 
they  had  waited  some  twenty-five  minutes  for  me,  and 
there  were  a  number  of  very  distinguished  guests.  I 
felt  much  chagrined  and  sorry  too  for  my  hostess. 
Among  the  guests  was  the  Right  Honorable  George 
John  Shaw-Lefevre.  He  has  been  very  prominent  as  a 
member  of  Parliament,  is  credited  with  carrying  in 
the  House  of  Commons  the  vote  for  the  arbitration  of 
the  Alabama  claims,  was  Secretary  of  the  Board  of 
Trade  under  Bright.  (He  has  since,  in  1906,  been  made 
Lord  Eversley  for  his  distinguished  services.)  There 
were  about  twenty  persons  present.  I  begged  them  to 
let  me  in  with  the  plat  qui  marches  but  they  insisted  upon 
bringing  me  some  of  the  first  courses.  Shaw-Lefevre 
was  very  interesting,  the  most  so  of  any  of  the  guests. 


GEORGE  JOHN  SHAW-LEFEVRE  351 

He  has  a  pleasant,  bright,  clear-cut,  sincere,  and  earnest 
manner.  I  wished  I  had  the  opportunity  to  know  him 
better.  He  is  one  of  the  sort  I  should  have  liked  to  make 
an  intimate  friend  of.  His  father  was  Speaker  of  the 
House  of  Commons  and  was  one  of  the  guests  whom  my 
father  met  at  Lord  Cranworth's  in  1856.  There  were 
many  others  whose  names  I  did  not  get,  but  who  all 
seemed  au  courant  with  the  large  affairs  of  the  kingdom. 
I  had  met  Mr.  Loyd  at  the  Fortescues'  dinner,  and  it 
was  so  kind  of  him  to  ask  me  when  he  was  under  no  ob- 
ligation that  I  felt  doubly  sorry  for  my  lateness.  Of 
course  I  explained  the  situation  and  tried  to  carry  it  off 
as  cheerfully  as  possible,  after  expressing  my  regrets, 
saying  that  I  had  no  idea  that  the  crowds  returning 
from  Henley  would  be  so  great  as  to  delay  the  trains. 
Mrs.  Loyd  was  most  courteous  and  kindly,  but  I  was 
sure  that  she  was  a  good  deal  upset  or  at  least  had 
reason  to  be.  The  conversation,  however,  became  so 
interesting  that  I  think  before  the  evening  w^as  over  my 
lateness  had  been  forgotten. 

Saturday,  July  1 

Went  for  a  week-end  visit  at  Cranleigh,  near  Guilford, 
to  the  E.  L.  Rowcliffes.  The  other  guests  were  Mrs. 
Julius  Pollock  and  her  daughter  Lilian,  Mr.,  Mrs.,  and 
Miss  Greg,  Mr.  Harrison,  a  member  of  one  of  the  largest 
firms  of  solicitors  in  London,  and  Mrs.  Edward  Row^- 
cliffe.  It  w^as  a  delightful,  warm,  calm  evening,  in  most 
beautiful  surroundings,  fine  large  gardens  with  roses 
and  many  fragrant  and  brilliant  flowers  most  tastefully 
arranged,  delicious  strawberries  and  various  other  kinds 
of  fruit,  with  wandering  paths  through  arbors,  and 
everything  that  one  could  imagine  to  make  the  place 
attractive  and  that  care  and  taste  could  devise.   Dinner 


352     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

was  at  half-past  seven.  In  the  evening  the  ladies  sang 
and  played  the  piano. 

Sunday,  July  2 

To  church,  walking  there  and  back  with  most  of  the 

household. 

Monday,  July  3 

They  showed  me  a  fishing  pond  which  was  just  being 

emptied.   To-day  was  another  beautiful  day  and  we  all 

had  lunch  out  of  doors  and  took  a  drive  in  the  afternoon. 

We  had  views  of  what  seemed  almost  wild  country,  with 

no  houses  in  sight  and  yet  such  a  short  distance  from 

London. 

Tuesday,  July  4 

Drove  eight  miles  to  breakfast  with  Mr.  Harrison  at 
seven-forty -five.  We  saw  the  assizes  with  the  trumpeters 
going  on  before  the  judge  to  the  Guilford  court-house, 
the  sheriffs,  marshals,  and  other  officials,  all  in  full  uni- 
form, making  a  great  ceremony,  the  like  of  which  we 
never  see  in  the  United  States.  Arrived  in  London  at 
half -past  ten  and  left  in  a  couple  of  hours  for  my  second 
trip  on  the  Continent,  stopping  at  Canterbury  Cathe- 
dral on  the  way. 

Wednesday,  July  5 

Made  a  ten-weeks'  trip  on  the  Continent,  chiefly  in 
France,  Brussels,  Germany,  Switzerland,  and  the  north 
of  Italy.  On  the  field  of  Waterloo  I  had  a  strange  mix- 
ture of  feeling,  a  certain  sympathy  for  Bonaparte  and 
a  wish  that  he  had  conquered,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  a 
satisfaction  that  it  was  the  British  who  won.  At  Berlin 
I  noticed  the  hours  of  meals  at  the  chief  hotel  to  be 


BERLIN  AND  MUNICH  353 

early  coffee  and  rolls  on  waking,  cold  meat  and  beer  at 
eleven,  dinner  at  four,  and  tea  or  supper  from  seven  to 
ten.  At  Potsdam  one  of  the  most  striking  things  was  the 
palace,  which  had  such  small,  convenient,  and  homelike 
rooms.  The  Emperor,  William  I,  apparently  preferred 
this  to  more  grandeur. 

Wednesday,  July  26 

Visited  the  Reichstag.  The  coat-room  was  very 
small.  There  was  a  buffet.  Each  member  is  fur- 
nished wdth  a  seat  with  his  name  on  the  back  of  the 
chair  and  a  desk  with  inkstand  and  drawer  in  front. 
Moltke's  seat  was  on  the  right  front,  the  Prime  Min- 
ister on  a  dais,  and  the  members  when  speaking  did  so 
from  a  rostrum.  I  saw  Bismarck's  seat.  The  Prime 
Minister  has  a  private  room  for  rest,  conferences,  and 
w^ork.  There  is  no  library  or  writing-room  for  members 
as  in  the  English  Parliament.  They  sit  in  a  semi-circle. 
Went  to  the  American  Embassy  and  saw  Bancroft 
Davis.  He  kindly  expressed  his  regret  that  father  was 
not  his  colleague  in  England.  At  Munich,  staying  at  the 
same  hotel  with  myself  and  friends,  were  the  Crown 
Prince  and  Princess  of  Prussia.  I  saw  them  coming  out 
of  their  carriage  after  a  rain,  not  at  the  front  door,  but 
at  a  side  one.  A  carpet  was  laid,  but  not  close  to  the 
carriage,  so  that  the  Princess  had  to  step  on  muddy  pave- 
ment part  of  the  way.  The  Crown  Prince  (Frederick) 
came  after  her,  but  did  not,  like  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  lay 
his  cloak  on  the  ground  for  her  benefit. 

Monday,  August  14 

Had  a  narrow  escape.  From  the  top  of  the  Fourca  Pass 
we  walked  to  the  Rhone  Glacier.  On  the  way  we  met 
an  English  clergj^man  and  his  friend,  a  Mr.  Salter,  who 


354     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

was  an  experienced  Alpine  climber  and  supplied  with 
ice-axe  and  hobnailed  shoes.  He  persuaded  us  to  take 
a  short  cut  to  the  glacier.  We  had  stout  walking-staffs 
with  sharp  points,  but  smooth  shoes.  Some  other  walk- 
ers joined  us.  The  descent  became  steeper  and  steeper, 
first  over  a  grass  slope  and  then  by  an  almost  perpen- 
dicular wall  of  stone  and  marl.  Some  of  our  compan- 
ions became  frightened  and  returned.  Later,  as  we 
kept  on  it  was  so  steep  that  we  could  not  see  the  men 
below  us  and  hardly  the  men  above.  Occasionally 
stones  would  roll  down,  but  by  holding  our  staffs  above 
our  heads  we  protected  them  from  any  severe  blow. 
How  in  the  world  we  got  through  without  falling  and 
losing  our  lives,  I  do  not  know.  We  had  no  rope  to 
tie  us  together.  Our  English  friend,  an  expert  climber, 
after  it  was  all  over  said  "it  was  the  nastiest  bit  of 
grass  slope,  loose  rocks,  and  gravel"  that  he  had  ever 
done. 

Monday,  August  91 

After  some  training  on  long  walks  and  in  glacier  work 
we  tried  the  ascent  of  Mont  Blanc.  As  the  trip  showed 
some  French  characteristics  it  may  be  worth  narrating. 
We  started  for  the  Grands  Mulcts,  my  classmate,  Mr. 
George  Wigglesworth,  myself,  and  a  young  Englishman. 
The  weather  was  fine  and  we  had  two  experienced 
guides  and  two  porters.  We  started  in  the  early  fore- 
noon, going  through  the  woods  the  first  part  of  the  way, 
the  porters  carrying  ladders  and  planks,  and  the  guides 
ice-axes  and  a  rope.  As  we  were  walking  along  at  a 
moderate  pace  we  heard  a  rushing  and  hallooing  be- 
hind us  and  in  a  few  moments  a  party  of  three  French- 
men with  guides  and  porters  passed  us  running  on  the 
double-quick.    Their  guide  said  they,  too,  were  going 


MONT  BLANC  355 

up  Mont  Blanc.  Not  long  afterwards  we  overtook  this 
same  party  drenched  with  perspiration,  mopping  their 
brows,  wholly  out  of  breath  and  resting. 

As  we  got  on  the  glacier  we  were  roped  together.  We 
had  to  descend  a  crevasse  and  mount  again  on  the  other 
side  with  steps  cut  in  the  ice  on  both  sides.  We  saw  the 
Grands  Mulcts  in  the  distance.  It  was  a  house  on  a 
rock  projecting  out  of  the  glacier  and  was  kept  by  a  very 
jolly,  good-natured  Frenchman.  We  had  dinner  in  the 
early  evening  and  sang,  waking  the  echoes.  As  the  sun 
w^ent  dow^n  it  became  cold  and  we  all  went  to  bed  early 
so  as  to  awake  and  be  fresh  for  our  start  to  the  top  at 
morning  twilight.  All  the  hard  glacial  part  of  the  climb 
up  Mont  Blanc  was  to  the  Grands  Mulcts.  After  that 
it  is  one  steady  climb,  more  or  less  difficult  according 
to  the  condition  and  amount  of  snow.  Just  at  present 
the  snow^  is  hard  and  the  ascent  said  to  be  easy. 

During  the  night  I  dreamed  we  were  attacked  by 
brigands  and  in  a  moment  w^as  awakened  by  sounds  of 
distant  calling,  answered  by  the  firing  of  a  gun,  and  saw 
lights  flashed  on  the  window  panes.  W^e  went  out  into 
the  night  air  and  found  our  guides  and  porters  starting 
to  the  assistance  of  the  Frenchmen.  These  Frenchmen 
were  brought  in,  carried  like  sacks  of  meal,  by  guides 
and  porters  and  placed  on  the  ground.  We  woke  up 
again  at  three  o'clock,  the  hour  of  starting,  and  found 
lightning  quite  constant  toward  Geneva,  but  heard  no 
thunder.  There  were  occasional  rains  with  hail,  so  we 
delayed  our  starting.  At  six  o'clock  w^e  saw  the  wind 
blowing  on  the  top  from  the  south  —  "le  vent  du  Midi," 
as  the  guides  call  it  —  and  the  snow  flying,  though  at 
that  moment  the  sky  was  clear.  Soon  afterwards  the 
clouds  gathered  and  it  did  not  look  very  hopeful  for  our 
reaching  the  top. 


356     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

We  talked  with  our  Frenchmen,  who  said  they  had 
taken  no  previous  exercise  to  prepare  themselves  for 
the  ascent,  but  had  come  straight  from  the  sidewalks 
of  Paris.  They  apparently  expected  to  reach  the  top  in 
record  time  in  one  magnificent  charge  with  the  help  of 
frequent  nips  of  brandy.   One  of  these  men  was  quite  ill. 

We  were  impatient  to  go  on,  but  the  guides  said  we 
were  sure  to  have  a  storm  and  that  it  would  be  danger- 
ous. As  they  were  to  receive  far  more  compensation  if 
they  went  to  the  top  than  if  we  turned  back  from  the 
Grands  Mulcts,  we  believed  their  advice  was  sincere. 
With  deep  disappointment  we  started  back  in  the 
forenoon  and  just  as  we  left  the  glacier,  there  came 
clouds,  rain,  and  fog  thick  about  us. 

Wednesday,  August  23 

Walked  from  Chamonix  to  Geneva,  a  distance  of  fifty 
miles,  which  we  did  in  about  fourteen  hours  including 
resting  and  meals,  and  though  rather  footsore,  came 
through  in  good  condition. 

Saturday,  August  26 

Lunched  with  the  d'Hermignys,  an  old  French  Prot- 
estant family  who  have  many  friends  among  the  nobil- 
ity of  France,  Italy,  and  England.  One  of  the  Roths- 
childs was  present. 

Sunday,  September  3 

Back  again  in  England  on  the  way  home  to  America. 
Heard  Canon  Liddon  at  Westminster  Abbey.  Most 
of  my  English  friends  were  out  of  town. 

Monday,  September  4 

In  the  afternoon  went  down  for  a  three-days'  visit  to 

my  friend  Charles  Harrison,  the  celebrated  solicitor 


LAST  VISIT  TO  PEMBROKE  LODGE  357 

whom  I  met  at  Rowcllffe's  in  the  spring  and  to  whom 
Lord  Coleridge  had  introduced  me.  He  hved  in  an  old 
house  at  Guilford,  built  in  1520,  with  many  rare  books, 
Spanish  and  other  curiosities,  and  uncommon  old  china 
about. 

Tuesday,  September  5 

Mr.  Lushington,  son  of  the  Reform  Bill,  came  to 
lunch  and  spoke  in  high  praise  of  my  father's  notes  to 
TMieaton's  "International  Law."  How  thoughtful  and 
kind  these  Englishmen  are!  There  was  also  a  Mr.  Roy 
of  the  United  Service  Institute.  Harrison  took  us  on 
an  excursion  to  Hampton  Court  in  the  afternoon  and  we 
saw  the  usual  sights  and  some  not  open  to  the  public. 
In  the  evening  we  went  to  a  musicale,  where  were  Mrs. 
Lane  Fox,  a  Mr.  Scott,  a  young  Austrian  prince,  and 
two  Miss  Osbornes,  and  others. 

Wednesday,  September  6 

After  a  delightful  visit  went  early  to  town  to  pack  and 

prepare  for  the  voyage  home. 

Thursday,  September  7 

Received  a  telegram  from  Lady  Russell  inviting  me  to 
Pembroke  Lodge  and  down  I  went  in  the  afternoon. 
Lord  and  Lady  Russell  welcomed  me  with  great  kind- 
ness and  cordiality.  I  told  Lady  Russell  about  my 
father's  defense  of  the  fugitive  slaves  and  those  who  were 
indicted  for  trying  to  free  them,  all  done  con  amore.  An 
arithmetical  puzzle  was  given  out,  which  we  worked  on 
and  solved.  That  led  Russell  to  tell  the  story  of  Pitt's 
remembering  all  the  accounts  in  the  most  exact  detail 
on  one  verbal  hearing  and  his  ability  to  explain  and  in- 
terest Parliament  in  them. 


358     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

Lord  Russell  said  he  took  a  great  liking  to  Lafayette, 
and  told  a  story  of  his  saving  the  life  of  Prince  Jules 
de  Polignac,  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  under  Charles 
X,  who  was  imprisoned  during  the  Revolution  of  July, 
1830.  The  Prince  feared  murder  and  got  in  touch  with 
Lord  Russell,  who  spoke  to  Lafayette,  then  head  of 
the  Guards.  Lafayette  made  an  appointment  and  at  the 
exact  moment  turned  up  at  Lord  Russell's  hotel,  the 
St.  Maurice,  and  said,  "It  must  not  be;  it  shall  not  be." 

Lord  Russell  spoke  in  great  praise  of  Charles  Francis 
Adams  again  and  his  services  to  the  United  States  in 
England  during  the  Civil  War.  He  thinks  that  the  Re- 
publicans will  elect  the  President  of  the  United  States. 
He  was  very  much  stirred  up  by  the  Turkish  atrocities,^ 
and  said  to  his  grandson  as  he  was  going  to  bed,  "You 
will  never  fight  for  the  Turks."  I  again  renewed  my 
wish  at  the  Wishing  Tree  and  then  parted  from  these 
my  most  cordial  and  dear  friends  with  rather  a  heavy 
heart. 

One  afternoon  I  went  to  see  the  London  Rowing 
Club  at  their  boathouse  at  Putney.  I  had  a  letter  from 
Smalley  to  Gulston,  the  captain,  but  he  was  out,  and 
some  other  members  took  me  about,  showed  me  all 
their  boats,  and  allowed  me  to  make  careful  measure- 
ments of  their  oars,  sliding  seats,  and  rigging,  and  re- 
membered the  Harvard  four-oar  crew  that  came  over 
to  row  against  Oxford  in  1869  —  J.  S.  Fay,  F.  O.  Ly- 
man, W.  H.  Simmons,  and  Alden  P.  Loring,  stroke,  and 
also  A.  Burnham,  the  cockswain,  and  the  substitutes, 
Rice  and  Bass,  and  they  wanted  especially  to  be  re- 
membered to  Lyman  after  I  told  them  he  was  engaged 

^  Those  committed  against  the  Bulgarians,  which  so  aroused  Gladstone. 
Disraeli 's  Government  had  refused  to  join  the  European  concert  which 
might  have  prevented  these. 


ENGLISH  DRESS  359 

to  be  married  to  one  of  my  sisters.  They  expressed  the 
opinion  that  if  the  race  had  been  rowed  a  few  days  be- 
fore, Harvard  would  have  won,  as  the  Oxford  crew  was  a 
Httle  overworked  and  had  to  be  taken  off  to  the  seashore 
for  a  rest.  They  also  thought  that  Harvard  lost  con- 
siderably by  steering  under  an  arch  with  a  back  current 
in  order  to  avoid  the  possibility  of  a  foul.  There  are 
many  "  ifs  "  and  "ands  "  in  a  close  boat-race  to  salve  the 
feelings  of  the  beaten  side. 

Before  leaving  for  America  it  may  not  be  amiss  to 
say  the  ladies  wore  bustles  for  both  day  and  evening 
dresses.  Their  day  dresses  were  always  high  at  the 
neck.  A  quite  common  costume  was  to  have  a  waist 
that  has  the  effect  of  a  cuirass  —  I  do  not  know  the 
proper  name  for  it  —  made  of  some  heavy,  often  dark 
material,  with  sleeves  of  a  thinner  substance  and  lighter 
color.  There  was  usually  a  sort  of  overskirt,  some- 
times longer  in  the  front  and  sometimes  longer  be- 
hind, but  usually  caught  up  at  the  sides.  The  eve- 
ning dress  was  of  rich  silks  with  a  round  low  neck.  I 
won't  attempt  any  further  descriptions  of  the  very 
varying  ladies'  dresses. 

I  have  already  described  the  men's  country  clothing 
except  that  I  may  add  they  never  put  on  gloves  in  mild 
weather  when  not  driving  or  riding.  Some  few  men 
wore  knickerbockers  and  long  woolen  stockings.  In  the 
city  the  men  always  wore  tall  silk  hats,  long  black 
frock  coats  coming  about  to  the  knee,  and  dark  trousers 
with  some  inconspicuous  stripe.  They  almost  invariably 
had  on  thick  kid  or  dogskin  gloves,  the  most  fashionable 
color  being  a  reddish  brown.  In  the  evening  the  men 
always  wore  dress  suits,  the  coat  being  of  the  clawham- 
mer style,  and  black  vests  with  white  ties.  Gloves  they 
did  not  wear  excepting  at  dances. 


360     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

Saturday,  September  9 

Sailed  on  the  Scythia,  the  largest  steamer  on  the  trans- 
Atlantic  service  from  Liverpool  to  New  York.  Near  the 
end  of  the  voyage  I  talked  with  a  steerage  passenger 
who  was  a  barkeeper  in  New  York.  He  also  had  some 
interest  in  the  iron  business.  He  said  he  found  more 
drunkenness  in  Liverpool  and  Dublin  than  in  New 
York,  especially  among  the  women.  He  talked  much  of 
New  York  politics.  He  had  got  one  individual  Re- 
publican elected  in  a  Democratic  district  in  New  York 
City  by  printing  three  thousand  "Democratic"  ballots 
with  the  candidates  for  Congress  and  others  of  the  reg- 
ular party  and  the  name  of  the  Republican  he  wanted 
chosen,  put  in  toward  the  end  of  the  list  in  place  of  the 
Democratic  candidate.  The  trick  worked.  (These  were 
the  days  before  the  Australian  official  ballot.  The  party 
committees  usually  attended  to  printing  the  ballots 
with  the  names  of  their  candidates  on  them  and  to  the 
distribution  of  these  ballots  at  the  polls,  but  there  was 
no  law  against  any  one's  printing  and  distributing 
ballots,  so  "bogus"  ones,  as  in  this  case,  were  often 
given  out  at  the  polls,  misleading  the  voters  by  false 
headlines.)  For  this  service  he  was  appointed  a  police- 
man, a  full  patrolman  with  $1100  a  year,  and  said  he 
felt  secure  in  his  office  on  account  of  his  political  influ- 
ence. For  example,  he  said  he  was  caught  off  his  beat 
at  one  time  and  was  only  reprimanded  instead  of  being 
dismissed.  He  hoped  to  get  still  more  out  of  politics. 
He  said  that  if  you  can  only  get  a  friend  elected,  you  are 
sure  of  an  office  with  no  danger  of  removal  while  your 
friend  is  in  power.  He  agreed  that  it  was  a  bad  system 
and  a  cause  of  corruption  in  both  parties,  but  he  said 
this  would  never  be  reformed  during  the  lifetime  of 
either  of  us.    (In  seven  years  the  United  States  Civil 


HOME  BY  THE  SCYTHTA  361 

Service  Reform  Act  was  passed,  followed  in  two  years 
by  those  of  New  York  and  Massachusetts.) 

With  this  conversation  I  was  recalled  to  thoughts  of 
my  country  and  its  sore  need  of  important  reforms  (in 
which  I  afterwards  took  part),  such  as  the  introduction 
of  the  Australian  ballot  law  and  civil  service  reform 
measures,  and  after  a  most  delightful  and  I  hope  in- 
structive and  educational  trip  I  am  to  settle  down  again 
to  the  completion  of  my  law  studies  at  Harvard  and  to 
begin  my  work  in  a  profession  which  may  be  made  as 
dry  as  dust  or  one  of  the  most  stimulating,  broadening, 
and  useful  to  the  community,  according  as  it  is  taken 
by  those  who  enter  it. 


EPILOGUE 

The  precedence  which  is  so  strict  in  France  is  not  in 
England  kept  up  in  the  ordinary  dinners  excepting  for 
a  few  of  the  most  distinguished  guests.  The  rules  are 
often  cast  to  the  winds  for  the  sake  of  better  arrange- 
ment of  people  at  table,  to  bring  out  good  conversation, 
and  for  myself,  with  no  precedence  at  all  beyond  my 
college  degree,  they  have  not  infrequently  given  me 
the  place  of  honor  just  as  a  bit  of  kind  hospitality  to 
a  stranger. 

The  aristocracy  hold  a  very  high  position.  The  best 
of  them  feel  their  responsibility  toward  their  tenants, 
giving  a  great  deal  of  time  and  thought,  as  may  be  seen 
from  this  journal,  for  their  welfare,  take  an  interest  in 
all  the  details  of  the  families,  and  in  return  are  treated 
with  respect  and  deference.  There  is  undoubtedly  a 
glamour  connected  with  persons  of  title  in  Great  Brit- 
ain greater  than  in  France,  Italy,  or  Germany,  but  the 
great  changes  that  have  come  since  the  World  War  of 
1914-18,  the  enormous  succession  levies  and  the  very 
high  super-taxes  for  large  incomes,  will  very  likely  alter 
the  whole  situation  and  indeed  has  already  done  so  to 
a  considerable  degree.  Many  of  the  nobility  have  had 
to  give  up  part  of  their  big  estates,  and  it  was  their 
wealth  that  undoubtedly  gave  them  their  position  and 
the  ability  to  exercise  hospitality  on  a  large  scale  and  to 
keep  up  great  houses.  Perhaps  we  shall  never  again 
see  the  nobility  as  they  were  in  1875-76. 

As  to  the  situation  in  the  seventies,  Mrs.  Humphry 
Ward  in  her  "Writer's  Recollections,"  speaking  of  her 
uncle,  Matthew  Arnold,  said:  "He  never  denied  —  none 


TWO  VIEWS  OF  THE  ARISTOCRACY  363 

but  the  foolish  ever  do  deny  —  the  immense  oppor- 
tunities and  advantages  of  an  aristocratic  class  wherever 
it  exists.  He  was  quite  conscious  —  none  but  those 
without  imagination  can  fail  to  be  conscious  —  of  the 
glamour  of  long  descent  and  great  affairs."  And  yet 
that  did  not  prevent  Matthew  Arnold's  having  sym- 
pathy for  the  less  privileged  classes,  and  in  a  poem  to 
Arthur  Hugh  Clough  he  said: 

"If  thoughts,  not  idle,  which  before  me  flow, 
The  armies  of  the  homeless  and  unfed  — 
If  these  are  yours,  if  this  is  what  you  are. 
Then  I  am  yours,  and  what  you  feel  I  share." 

In  contrast  to  Matthew  Arnold's  view  of  the  aristo- 
cracy, which  Mrs.  Ward  shared,  is  that  brought  out  in 
"The  Education  of  Henry  Adams."  He  says  he  "met 
in  England  a  thousand  people,  great  and  small;  jostled 
against  every  one  from  royal  princes  to  gin-shop  loafers ; 
attended  endless  official  functions  and  private  parties; 
visited  every  part  of  the  United  Kingdom  ...  he  knew 
the  societies  of  one  or  two  country  houses  and  acquired 
habits  of  .  .  .  Sunday  afternoon  calls;  but  all  this  gave 
him  nothing  to  do  and  was  life  wasted."  And  again,  "of 
his  daily  life  he  had  only  to  reckon  so  many  breakfasts, 
so  many  dinners,  so  many  receptions,  balls,  theatres, 
and  country  parties,  so  many  cards  to  be  left,  so  many 
Americans  to  be  escorted;  all  counting  for  nothing  in 
sum,  because  ...  it  was  mere  routine,  a  single,  contin- 
ued, unbroken  act  which  led  to  nothing  and  nowhere 
except  Portland  Place  and  the  grave." 

For  myself,  I  took  a  position  somewhat  between  the 
two.  Without  generalizing  too  much,  I  know  that  those 
I  met  were  the  most  delightful,  well-bred,  courteous, 
true-hearted,  generous  people,  by  and  large,  that  I  have 


364     HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

ever  come  in  contact  with.  They  were  well  informed, 
some  of  them  brilliant  and  delightful  talkers.  I  made 
many  sincere  friendships  and  their  acquaintance  en- 
larged my  view  of  life  and  its  possibilities  and  was  to 
me  at  once  an  education  and  an  inspiration.  I  shall 
never  forget  these  good  people.  I  did  not  meet  the  fast 
set  or  the  few  nouveaux  riches  of  the  aristocracy,  and  I 
may  have  been  particularly  fortunate  in  the  groups  that 
I  met.  Then,  too,  they  were  human  beings  after  all, 
and  to  picture  the  scene  to  one's  self  as  an  American  I 
sometimes  thought  what  the  situation  would  be  did 
we  in  the  United  States  issue  patents  of  nobility.  Had 
we  done  so.  General  Grant  would  have  been  Duke  of 
Richmond,  with  sub-title  of  Marquis  of  Vicksburg  and 
Earl  Donelson;  General  Sherman  would  have  been, 
let  us  say,  the  Marquis  of  Atlanta;  Chief  Justice  Mar- 
shall would  have  been  made  an  earl,  and  Horace  Gray 
and  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes,  Jr.,  Massachusetts  represen- 
tatives on  the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  w^ould  have 
been  made  barons  or  at  least  baronets.  If  Roundel! 
Palmer,  who  conducted  the  losing  side  of  the  Alabama 
arbitration  at  Geneva,  Switzerland,  was  made  a  baron 
with  title  of  Lord  Selborne,  surely  William  M.  Evarts, 
the  chief  counsel  for  the  American  or  winning  side, 
would  have  been  made  the  Viscount  or  the  Earl  of 
Windsor,  Vermont,  and  so  on. 

But  to  come  back  to  my  experience,  it  was  the  human 
side  of  these  delightful  people  that  interested  and  in- 
structed me,  and  I  never  shall  forget  their  hospitality. 
Let  me  give  a  little  example  in  addition  to  those  already 
related.  I  received  a  letter  from  Mr.  Mark  J.  Stuart, 
an  eminent  member  of  the  House  of  Commons,  to 
whom  I  had  no  letter  of  introduction  and  whom  I  had 
not  even  met,  saying  that  he  had  heard  from  our  mu- 


ENGLAND  STILL  HOSPITABLE  365 

tual  friend,  Mr.  Robert  Ferguson,  M.P.,  that  I  was  in 
London,  only  to  remain  a  few  days  longer,  and  would  I 
lunch  with  him  at  his  house  the  next  Saturday,  saying 
that  when  in  the  United  States  he  had  spent  a  pleasant 
afternoon  with  my  father.  That  Saturday  was  engaged 
and  a  day  or  two  afterwards  I  left  for  the  Continent. 

Perhaps  I  made  a  mistake  in  not  staying  on  in  Lon- 
don longer  to  see  more  of  old  friends  and  make  new  ones, 
but  I  felt,  whether  rightly  or  wrongly,  that  for  my  edu- 
cation and  for  increasing  my  interest  in  history  I  ought 
to  visit  the  important  parts  of  western  Europe,  which 
I  had  not  seen,  before  returning  to  America  in  Septem- 
ber, a  thing  I  had  to  do  in  order  to  complete  my  studies 
at  the  law  school. 

Among  the  various  changes  and  chances  in  our  hu- 
man life  it  has  been  my  misfortune  not  to  have  kept 
up  friendships  with  any  but  a  few  of  my  English  ac- 
quaintances. It  was  not  their  fault  as  is  clearly  shown 
by  their  quick  response  whenever  they  were  given  a 
chance  to  show  us  hospitality.  It  was  delightful  to  find 
how  they  welcomed  my  sons  and  friends,  and  when  in 
England  in  1920  not  only  did  I  see  or  hear  from  all  those 
then  living  of  my  old  friends,  but  what  showed  the 
traditions  of  hospitality  most  remarkably  was  to  see 
how  the  second  generation  carried  it  on.  I  received 
kind  notes  from  several  of  them  and  made  some  week- 
end visits  and  had  other  invitations  I  could  not  ac- 
cept. President  Hayes  offered  me,  through  William 
M.  Evarts,  the  Secretary  of  State,  the  position  of 
Chief  Secretary  of  Legation  at  either  Paris  or  London 
as  I  might  choose,  a  year  after  my  return  to  America. 
Had  I  accepted  the  offer  and  chosen  London,  I  should 
have  had  the  best  opportunity  possible  for  seeing  again 
my  old  friends,  but  the  diplomatic  service  was  not  then 


S66    HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

a  career.  A  change  of  administration,  even  with  no 
change  of  party,  meant  a  change  of  all  diplomatic  offi- 
cers. It  was  not  till  some  years  later,  in  1883,  that  Mr. 
Henry  White  began  his  long  and  honorable  diplomatic 
career,  and  even  that  was  broken  by  a  gap  of  four  years 
during  Cleveland's  second  administration. 

Any  good  I  might  do  for  Uncle  Sam  on  account  of 
my  knowledge  of  London  ways  would  have  been  only 
temporary.  Therefore,  on  the  advice  of  my  father  and 
of  Mr.  Longfellow,  who  was  about  to  be  my  father-in- 
law,  I  declined  the  offer. 

Notwithstanding  the  regret  I  have  in  not  seeing 
them  again,  the  memories  of  those  golden  days  of 
friendships  abroad  have  remained  in  the  stronghold  of 
my  heart  and  have  been  an  inspiration  in  all  the  work 
for  public  good  I  have  ever  taken  a  hand  in. 

What  is  the  explanation  of  the  wonderful  English 
hospitality  .f*  The  liospitality  is  not  vague  and  general, 
expressing  itself  to  one  and  all,  but  is  confined  to  those 
who  are  properly  introduced  or  well  known.  Beside 
the  wealth,  the  great  estates,  the  large  establishments, 
the  hunting,  fishing,  cricket  grounds,  lawn  tennis  and 
the  stables,  which  make  it  easy  to  entertain  guests,  is  the 
fact  that  the  country  life  without  guests  would  in  many 
cases  be  lonely.  But,  in  addition,  the  English  people 
seem  educated  to  entertain,  and  I  believe  that  education 
comes  from  the  universities  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge. 
Whether  by  design  or  accident,  the  students  do  not 
breakfast  in  hall,  but  in  their  own  rooms,  and  as  they  do 
not  chum  together  in  the  English  universities,  they 
naturally  fall  into  the  habit  of  asking  friends  in;  so  a 
student  —  or  one  who  like  myself  was  staying  in  col- 
lege —  receives  a  card,  or  a  short  note,  or  just  a  verbal 
invitation  to  breakfast  at  eight-forty-five  or  nine  o'clock 


A  SOURCE  OF  ENGLISH  HOSPITALITY  867 

at  some  one's  room  in  such  and  such  a  college,  to  meet, 
let  us  say,  the  president  of  the  Oxford  Union,  or  the 
captain  of  a  boat  club,  a  celebrated  cricket  player,  or  a 
high  honor  man. 

The  scouts  bring  in  from  the  buttery  breakfasts  of 
one,  two,  or  three  courses,  usually  one,  and  place  them 
on  trestles  composed  of  tongs,  shovel,  and  poker  in 
front  of  the  fire,  where  it  may  keep  warm  till  the  guests 
arrive.  Indeed,  it  is  rather  an  exception  for  a  man  to 
breakfast  alone.  Freshmen  even  are  invited  to  break- 
fast with  upper  classmen.  Besides  the  breakfasts  in  each 
other's  rooms  there  is  another  custom  which  has  in- 
duced hospitality  among  the  educated  English,  and  that 
is  of  the  wines  or  desserts  after  dinner.  The  dinner  in 
hall  is  rather  meagre  and  this  meagreness  is  made  up 
by  delicacies  and  wines  served  in  the  college  rooms,  to 
which  they  invite  friends. 

In  America  our  students  either  dine  in  large  halls  at 
the  same  table  with  the  same  men  for  substantially  the 
whole  of  the  year,  or  form  small  and  exclusive  clubs 
where  they  take  all  meals  with  the  same  group  day 
after  day,  and  there  is  no  easy  hospitality  or  interchange 
of  companionship  at  meals  as  in  England. 

With  all  the  other  inducements  to  hospitality  in 
Great  Britain  I  think  the  greatest  factor  is  this  univer- 
sity education  in  comradeship  and  conviviality. 

Hospitality  is  not  confined  to  the  B.A.'s  and  M.A.'s 
of  Oxford  and  Cambridge.  It  is  a  human  instinct, 
as  testify  the  earliest  literatures  sacred  and  profane. 
Chaucer,  before  modern  Oxford  could  have  blossomed 
out,  has  his  hospitable  Franklyn,  the  "newe"  St. 
Julian.  Shakespeare  was  not  at  the  universities  nor 
was  the  banished  Duke  in  "As  You  Like  It,"  but  how 
sweet  the  greeting  to  Orlando,  "Sit  down  and  feed  and 


368    HOSPITABLE  ENGLAND  IN  THE  SEVENTIES 

welcome  to  our  table,"  though  the  young  hero  had  just 
tried  to  seize  the  food  by  force,  and  Orlando  replies: 

"Speak  you  so  gently?  Pardon  me  I  pray  you 


If  ever  you  have  looked  on  better  days; 

Let  gentleness  my  strong  enforcement  be: 

In  the  which  hope,  I  blush,  and  hide  my  sword." 

And  then  the  Duke  replies : 

"True  is  it  that  we  have  seen  better  days, 
And  have  with  holy  bell  been  knoll'd  to  church, 
And  sat  at  good  men's  feasts,  and  wiped  our  eyes 
Of  drops  that  sacred  pity  hath  engender 'd: 
And  therefore  sit  you  down  in  gentleness. 
And  take  upon  command  what  help  we  have. 
That  to  your  wanting  may  be  minister'd." 

And  then  you  remember  how  Orlando  would  partake  of 
nothing  till  he  had  hospitably  fetched  his  old  compan- 
ion Adam  to  the  feast. 

Yes,  hospitality  is  almost  universal,  but  is  it  ever 
so  pervading,  so  easy,  so  cultivated  and  trained  as 
among  those  who  have  spent  their  golden  youth  at  the 
universities  of  old  England? 


THE  END 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Abbott,  Mrs.,  mother  of  Lord  Tenter- 
den,  157,  160. 

Acropolis  of  Athens,  by  moonlight, 
210-14. 

Acting,  French,  159,  177,  179. 

Adams,  Charles  Francis,  37;  as  a  fisher- 
man, 111;  as  Minister  to  England  in 
the  Civil  War,  126,  358. 

Adams,  F.  Ottiwell,  157,  160. 

Adams,  Henry,  his  views  of  the  English 
aristocracy,  363. 

iEgean,  the,  220-22. 

iEtna,  Mt.,  203. 

Agassiz,  Louis,  184. 

Agricultural  Holdipgs  Bill,  in  Parlia- 
ment, 11,  12,  17,  32. 

Alabama  Claims,  and  Lord  Tenterden, 
18,  132,  138;  and  Lord  Cockburn,  132- 
34,  323,  331,  332;  and  Sir  Stafford 
Northcote,  337;  and  Shaw-Lefevre, 
350. 

Albani,  300,  302,  342. 

Alexandra,  Princess,  of  Wales,  33. 

Alexandria  to  Cairo,  the  journey,  223. 

All  Saints'  Day  at  Paris,  170. 

Althorp  House,  \asit  to,  69-81. 

Amberley,  Lord,  37,  40;  death,  220,  329. 

American  conditions  misunderstood  by 
Professor  Danna,  249,  250. 

American  politics,  299,  334,  360,  361. 

Americans  in  Paris,  183. 

Amory,  Jonathan,  302. 

Ancient  history,  value  of,  226. 

Andrew,  John  F.,  25. 

Appleton,  Nathan,  9. 

Appleton,  "Uncle  Tom,"  5,  6. 

Arab,  an  athletic,  227;  as  host,  235,  236. 

Arabic  language,  the,  225. 

Arbuthnot,  Mr.,  20. 

Archbishop  of  Paris,  the,  192. 

Argyll,  Duke  of,  visit  to  his  castle,  103- 
20;  reception  of,  338,  339. 

Argyll,  Duchess  of,  103,  111,  112,  120, 
328. 

Argyll,  Lord  Archibald,  109,  112. 

Argyll,  Lady  Elizabeth,  105.  106. 

Aristocracy,  the  English,  362-64.  See 
Nobility. 

Arnold,  Edwin,  317. 

Arnold,  Matthew,  son  of,  268;  on  the 
English  classes,  362,  363. 

Arnold,  Richard  P.,  273,  276. 


Ashburton,  Lady,  113,  114. 

Ashbury,  Mr.,  237. 

Ashley,  Lady  Edith,  112,  115. 

Ashmolean  Museum,  the,  280. 

Assembly,  the  French,  Monsieur  Lau- 
gel's  views  on,  179;  a  meeting  of, 
185-91. 

Assemblies,  after-dinner,  21. 

Athens,  the  romance  of,  204,  205;  the 
Theatre  of  Dionysus,  205,  206;  Christ- 
mas services  at,  206;  a  funeral  at,  207; 
costumes  in,  208;  the  Acropolis  by 
moonlight,  210-14;  Royal  Ball  at, 
214-16. 

Austin,  Alfred,  87. 

Bailey,  Mr.,  of  "Lee  Abbey,"  136. 

Balfour,  A.J.,  290. 

Ball,  Royal,  at  Athens,  214-16. 

Balliol  College,  264,  265. 

Balliol  eight  wine,  the,  280-82. 

Balls,  matrons  at,  335. 

Baring,  Mary  Florence,  114. 

Barnard,  C.  Inman,  226,  232. 

Batiste,  Monsieur  E.,  organist,  182.    • 

Bedrashen,  229. 

Beecher,  Henry  Ward,  22.  23. 

Behera,  the,  steamer,  220-23. 

Belknap,  W.  W.,  245. 

Benjamin,  Judah  P.,  322,  323,  326. 

Benvenue,  100,  101. 

Beriin,  352,  353. 

Bernard,  Mountague,  341. 

Bernhardt,  Sarah,  192. 

Binney,  Horace,  Jr.,  311. 

Birmingham,  65-68. 

Bismarck,  Otto  v.,  161. 

Blackmore,  R.  D.,  his  "  Lorna  Doone," 

139. 
Bluntschli,  322. 

Bodleian  Library,  the,  277,  278. 
Brackett,  Walter,  American  sportsman 

and  painter,  110. 
Bradford,  William,  284,  285,  350. 
"Britannia,"  as  name  for  England,  59. 
Brohan,  Madame,  French  actress,  191. 
Brougham,  Lord,  51. 
Brownson,  Mr.,  .334. 
Bruce,  Lord  Charies,  6.  32,  43,  70-76. 
Bruce,  Lady  Charles,  71. 
Bryant,  W.  C,  337,  338. 
Bryce,  James,  348. 


372 


INDEX 


Buckstone,  benefit  of,  306,  307. 
Buffet,  Monsieur,  French  Premier,  189, 

190. 
Burdett-Coutts,  Baroness,  314-16,  344. 
Burke,  Edmund,  54. 
Burnett,  Waldo,  271. 
Burrows,  Professor,  of  All  Souls,  263, 

267,  268. 
Burrows,  Mrs.,  263,  267. 
Burrows,  Miss,  263. 
Burrows,  F.  R.,  263,  265,  266,  270,  271. 

Cabmen,  London,  301,  308. 

Cairo,  from  Alexandria  to,  the  journey, 
223;  soldiers'  boys'  school  at,  225; 
Volunteer  Corps  at,  225. 

Calvo  y  Capdevila,  Cdrlos,  198. 

Cambridge  (England),  283-93. 

Campbell,  Lord  Colin,  4,  5,  49,  50,  114. 

Cardwell,  Lord,  50,  51,  53. 

Cardwell,  Lady,  50,  52. 

Cargin,  I.,  French  violinist,  182. 

Carlton  Club,  the,  37. 

Cavendish,  Lord  Edward,  40,  105, 
108-12. 

Cavendish,  Lady  Edward,  40,  105. 

Cavendish,  Lord  Frederick,  28;  appear- 
ance and  manner,  4;  his  public  serv- 
ices, 1 1 ;  takes  Dana  to  the  House  of 
Commons,  11,  13;  Dana  at  dinner  of, 
40. 

Cavendish,  Lady  Frederick,  dinners  of, 
4,  19,  28,  40;  appearance,  11;  Dana 
calls  on,  42. 

Chabrol,  Vicomte  de,  184,  196,  197. 

Chapin,  Horace  D.,  42. 

Chapuy,  Madame,  actress,  181. 

Chatsworth,  country  seat  of  Duke  of 
Devonshire,  57. 

Chaucer,  Geoffrey,  367. 

Chitty,  Mr.,  304. 

Christmas  services  in  Russian  church  at 
Athens,  206. 

Claytons',  the,  330. 

Clifden,  Lady,  6,  7,  71,  77-81. 

Clifden,  Viscount,  77. 

Clubs,  EngUsh,  13,  18,  19,  36,  37,  46, 
333. 

Cockburn,  Lord,  and  the  Alabama 
Claims,  132-34,  323,  331;  and  the 
Strathclyde  case,  321-23;  and 
"Wheaton,"  322;  and  Bluntschli, 
322;  and  American  courts,  332. 

Coffee  houses,  93. 

Coleridge,  Lord,  10,  309;  visited  by 
Dana,  121-34;  on  Lord  Cockburn, 
132-34,  323,  331;  Dana  dines  with, 
310;  his  views  on  the  House  of  Lords, 
311;  and  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of 


Commons,  311,,  31 2;  on  the  Duke  of 
Wellington  and  dueling,  312;  and 
Goethe's  name,  313;  as  a  classical 
scholar,  313,  314;  breakfast  with,  317; 
as  Chief  Justice,  318,  319;  other 
breakfasts  with,  320,  331;  morning 
prayers  by,  320;  and  vivisection,  320; 
further  invitations  of,  342. 

Coleridge,  Lady,  121,  127. 

Coleridge,  Bernard,  127,  130,  131,  321. 

Coleridge,  Edward,  124,  127. 

Coleridge,  Mrs.  Edward,  124,  127. 

Coleridge,  Sir  John  Taylor,  131,  310. 

Coleridge,  Mildred,  124. 

Coleridge,  Stephen,  127. 

Coleridge,  Miss,  sister  of  Lord  Coleridge, 
131. 

Collier,  Sir  Robert,  346,  347. 

Colossal  statue,  Egyptian,  229. 

Colosseum,  the,  240. 

"Columbia,"  as  name  for  United  States, 
59. 

Com6die  Frangaise.  iSee  Theatre  Fran- 
cais. 

Commons,  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of, 
311,  312. 

Commune,  the,  179,  180. 

Concrete  cottages,  95. 

Constantine,  Basilica  of,  240. 

Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
Dana  explains,  44,  45,  54;  on  amend- 
ing, 343,  344. 

Convicts,  discharged,  employment  of, 
92,  93. 

Convocation,  273,  274. 

Cornice  Road,  the,  200,  201. 

Cornish,  Rev.  George  Kestell,  poem  by, 
129. 

Cosmopolitan  Club,  the,  46,  329. 

County  judges,  72,  73. 

Courts,  American,  and  English  judges, 
332,  333. 

Cowen,  Mr.,  326. 

Cowley  Fathers,  the,  269,  270. 

Cranleigh,  seat  of  the  Rowcliffes,  351. 

Cricket,  338,  339. 

Croisette,  actress,  159. 

Cross,  Mr.,  217. 

Cunard  Line,  the,  26,  27. 

Gushing,  Caleb,  133,  331. 

Dalkeith,  Lord,  44. 
Dalton,  Colonel,  241.  ' 
Dana,  Charies  A.,  174. 
Dana,  Edmund,  49. 
Dana,  Francis,  49,  54. 
Dana,  Paul,  174. 

Dana,  Richard  Henry,  his  "Two  Years 
Before  the  Mast,"  30,  48;  rejection 


INDEX 


373 


by  Senate  Committee  as  Minister  to 
Great  Britain,  245,  246,  310,  314, 
329,  341;  his  notes  to  Wheaton's 
International  Law,  247,  248,  322, 
341,  346,  357;  author  questioned  con- 
cerning, in  English  railway  carriage, 
255;  as  a  raconteur,  329. 

Dana,  Richard  Henry  (son  of  Richard 
Henry),  urged  to  stay  in  England,  45; 
mentioned  in  Dundee  "Advertiser," 
94;  his  plan  for  raising  sunken  ship, 
116,  117;  elected  member  of  the  Re- 
form Club,  328;  offered  post  as  Chief 
Secretary  of  Legation  at  Paris  or 
London,  365,  366. 

Dana  family,  the,  250,  251. 

Danna,  Professor,  247-51. 

Danna,  Mrs.,  251. 

D'Arcy,  Rev.  G.  B.,  208. 

Davis,  Bancroft,  353. 

De  Bornier,  Henri,  177. 

Deer-hunting,  139. 

Deldevez,  Monsieur  E.,  182. 

Derby,  Lord,  231. 

Derby  race,  the,  294-99. 

Devonshire  Club,  the,  36,  44. 

Dexter,  Arthur,  246. 

D'Hermignys',  the,  356. 

Dicey,  Edward,  174,  329,  342. 

Dicey,  Mrs.  Edward,  174,  196. 

Dickinson,  G.  Lowes,  his  "A  Modern 
Symposium,"  16. 

Dinners,  in  England,  21, 150;  precedence 
at,  362. 

Disraeli,  Benjamin  D.,  neutral  in  our 
Civil  War,  10;  in  the  House,  12; 
appearance,  15;  his  humor,  46,  47; 
incidents  concerning  his  veracity, 
60-62;  speech  of,  66;  and  the  Suez 
Canal,  231;  and  the  Speaker  of  the 
House,  312;  gives  invitation  to  meet 
Prince  of  Wales,  336. 

Domestic  system,  the  English,  75. 

Donkey-boy  who  spoke  English,  228. 

Donkeys  on  shipboard,  221. 

"Don  Juan,"  194. 

Dorr,  Mrs.,  241. 

Drummond,  Henry,  323. 

"Due  Job,"  play  by  Laya,  193. 

Dueling,  312. 

Duff,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gordon,  25,  26. 
Dundee,  reform  school  at,  90,  91;  linen 
works  at,  91,  92;  library  in  Albert 
Institute  at,  92;  convict  system  at, 
92,  93;  coffee  houses  at,  93;  flower 
show  at,  96. 
Dyer,  Louis,  264,  267,  271  76. 

Ebre,  the,  steamer,  237. 


Edinburgh,  picturesqueness  of,  83. 

Egypt,  223-36. 

Egyptian  women,  229. 

Egyptians,  the,  224. 

Eleusis,  Bay  of,  217. 

Ellen's  Isle,  100,  102. 

Elliot,  Admiral,  37. 

Elliot,  Sir  Charles  Gilbert,  37. 

Elliot,  Lady  Harriet  Emily,  37-39. 

England,  feeling  in,  toward  America, 
125-27.' 

English  dress,  359. 

English  hospitality,  151, 152, 364-66;  the 
source  of,  366-68. 

English  judges,  their  ignorance  in  re- 
gard to  American  courts,  332,  333. 

English  music,  309. 

English  politics,  ladies  in,  319. 

English  pronunciation,  25,  112,  119. 

English  voices,  77. 

English  words  and  expressions,  72,  77. 

Episcopal  Church  of  America  at  Rome, 
244,  245. 

Errol,  96. 

Eton  College,  302-05. 

Eversley,  Lord.   See  Shaw-Lefevre. 

Exeter,  cathedral,  135. 

Exmoor,  139. 

Favart,  Mademoiselle,  actress,  177. 

Febvre,  French  actor,  177. 

Felton,  Tom,  56. 

Ferguson,  Robert,  2,  17,  43,  365;  Dana 

lunches   with,    3;    Dana    at  Reform 

Club  with,  36. 
Ferguson,  Mr.,  333. 
Fishing,  140-43. 

Fishmongers'  Hall,  dinner  at,  330. 
Fortescue,  Lady  Camilla,  310. 
Fortescue,  Dudley,  306,  309,  310. 
Fouret,  Ren6,  162,  163. 
Fowler,  Mrs.,  333. 
Franceschi,  Signor,  singer,  252. 
Franco-Prussian  War,  174. 
French,  the,  character  of,  171. 
French  Academy,  the,  opening  of,  167, 

168;   prizes  awarded   before,    170;   a 

meeting  of,  176,  177. 
French  court,  a,  255. 
French  National  Library,  the,  252-54. 
French  politics,  171,  172. 
French  senate,  composition  of,  162. 

Gambetta,  speech  by,  188,  189. 

Garrick  Club,  the,  18,  19. 

Geneva,  356. 

George,  King  of  Greece,  208,  214-17. 

Ghost  story,  a,  123. 

Gibbons,  Professor,  286. 


374 


INDEX 


Girton,  285. 

Gizeh,  228,  229. 

Glaciers,  353-56. 

Gladstone,  W.  E.,  rather  Southern  in 
his  feelings  during  our  Civil  War,  10; 
sincere  in  his  thoughts,  15;  change  in 
feeling  toward,  16;  his  assumption  of 
being  morally  right,  16,  17;  Dana  at 
family  party  at  house  of,  21-23;  drew 
information  from  others,  24;  his  voice 
and  manner  of  speaking,  24;  his  ap- 
pearance, 25;  his  pronunciation,  25; 
in  the  House,  31;  at  dinner  and  thea- 
tre party,  40,  41;  autograph  letter  of, 
49;  removes  to  Harley  Street,  308; 
questions  Dana  on  Grecian  condi- 
tions, 339,  340;  calls  at  Dana's  lodg- 
ings, 348. 

Gladstone,  Mrs.  W.  E.,  23,  24,  40. 

Gladstone,  William  H.,  22,  40. 

Gladstone,  Miss,  274. 

Glasgow,  121. 

Glazebrook,  jumper,  280. 

Glenthorne,  seat  of  Mr.  Halliday,  139. 

Goldie,  Miss,  84,  87. 

Goodwin,  Professor  W.  W.,  206. 

Got,  French  actor,  191,  193. 

Grain,  unloading,  199,  200. 

Grant,  President,  209,  246. 

Greece,  landing  at  Piraeus,  204;  Athens, 
204,  205;  contrast  between  the  extent 
and  the  influence  of,  218;  was  unable 
in  antiquity  to  form  a  united  country, 
219;  Gladstone  questions  Dana  on, 
339,  340. 

Greek  funeral,  a,  207. 

Greeks,  the,  character  of,  203,  220. 

Greenwood,  Frederick,  editor  of  "Pall 
Mall  Gazette,"  231. 

"Greville  Papers,"  the,  51. 

Gumey,  Professor,  300,  301,  305,  315. 

Gurney,  Mrs.,  315. 

Gurney,  Mrs.  Russell,  326;  dinner  with, 
342-44. 

Gurney,  Mr.,  nephew  of  Russell  Gur- 
ney, 344,  345. 

Guy's  Cave,  63. 

Haggard,  Rev.  C,  237. 

Hall,  Major,  oflicer  in  the  Confederate 

Army,  225. 
Halliday,  Mr.,  139. 
Hamilton,     Lord    George,    quoted    on 

Mrs.  Hamilton,  24;  in  politics,  44. 
Hammond,  Miss  (afterwards  Mrs.  Dr. 

William  Appleton),  201,  202. 
Haoverman,  Baron,  197,  238. 
Harcourt,     Sir    William    Vernon,     48; 

Dana  goes  to  House  at  invitation  of. 


28;  Dana  dines  with,  31;  his  career, 

31 ;  and  the  Agricultural  Holdings  Bill, 

32;  dinner  to  Dana  given  by,  44-46; 

on   the  veracity  of   Disraeli,   60,   61; 

his  standing,   175;  character  of,   175, 

176;  calls  at  Dana's  lodgings,  348. 
Harrison,  Charles,  351,  352,  356. 
Hartington,  Marquis  of,  57;  speech  of, 

66. 
Harvard  and  Oxford,  race  of  1869,  267, 

358,  359. 
Harvard  Dining-Hall  Association,  89. 
Haweis,  Rev.  Hugh  Reginald,  305,  325. 
Healey,  Mr.,  183,  184,  192. 
Hearse,  scene  with,  239,  240. 
Heathcote,     Sir    William,    visited     by 

Dana,     146-50.    at    Mentone,    201; 

picture  of,  263. 
Heathcote,  Lady,  147,  201. 
Heathcote,  Rev.  Mr.,  148,  149. 
Heath's  Court,  131. 
Heatly,  Miss,  335. 
Henley,  boat-races  at,  349. 
Herzegovinians,  the,  203. 
Highlands  of  Scotland,  the,  100-02. 
Hoffmann,  Baroness,  241. 
Honey,  George,  actor,  41. 
Honiton,  121. 

Horsfall,  Mr.,  256,  294,  302. 
Hospitality.  See  English. 
Hottin,  Monsieur,  singer,  182. 
Houghton,    Lord    (Richard    Monckton 

Milnes),  314-17. 
Hughes,  Tom,  19. 
Hursley  Park,  visited  by  Dana,  146-50. 

Ilfracombe,  135,  145. 

Inchture,  94. 

Inner  Temple,  the,  36. 

Institute  of  France,  the,  167-70. 

Insurance,  marine,  29. 

Intemperance  in  English  society,  51,  52. 

Inverary,  103. 

Inverary  Castle,  visit  to,  103-20. 

Inversnaid,  102. 

Ireland,  condition  of,  7. 

Irving,  Henry,  as  Joseph  Surface,  307; 

his   manner,    314,    330;   reading   by, 

344. 
Italian  Parliament,  the,  242,  243. 
Italians,  the,  248,  249;  taxes  of,  176. 

James,  Henry,  196. 

Japanese,  an  English  opinion  of,   160, 

161;  about  their  civilization,  160,  161. 
Johnston,  Sir  Harry,  has  "Gay  Dom- 

beys,"  13. 
Jonassain,  Mademoiselle,  actress,  177. 
Jones,  Dr.,  17,  43. 


INDEX 


S75 


Jonson,  Ben,  74,  75. 
Jupp,  of  Magdalen,  270. 

Keble  chapel,  277,  279,  280. 

Keble  College  dormitory,  257,  258. 

Kenilworth,  63. 

Kennaway,  Sir  John,  13;  invitations 
from,  2,  5,  64;  dinner  with,  19;  at 
Carlton  Club  with,  37 ;  breakfast  with, 
347;  calls  on  Dana,  348. 

Kennaway,  Lady,  20,  43,  347. 

Kew  Gardens,  53. 

Kinnaird,  Lord,  49;  visited  by  Dana, 
88-96;  his  philanthropies,  90-93;  a 
useful  member  of  the  House  of  Lords, 
97;  his  family,  98;  his  collection  at  the 
Prior>-,  99. 

Kinnaird,  Lady,  88,  96. 

Kinnaird,  Arthur,  2,  49. 

Knox,  Mr.,  181. 

Lanyon,  Charles,  324-26,  333,  334. 
Laugel,  Monsieur,  174-76,  179,  180,  196. 
Law,  one  attitude  toward,  300. 
Laya,  Madame,  164,  166,  181,  182,  254. 
Laya,  Mademoiselle,  164,  165,  173. 
Laya,    Monsieur,    164,    165,    173,    178, 

191,  197. 
Laya,  Jean  Louis,  193. 
Layas',   the,    169,    171,    174,    180,   193, 

251,  252. 
Leaf,  Herbert,  283,  284. 
"Lee  Abbey,"  136. 
Leemouth,  144. 
Lehmann,  R.  C,  289. 
"Leyces  Ter"  Hospital,  Warwick,  65. 
Library,  at  Althorp  House,  73-75;  at 

Milan,  74. 
Lincoln's  Inn,  6. 
Littlejohn,  Bishop,  244. 
Lloyd,  Mr.,  of  the  Priory  at  Warwick,  64. 
Loch  Achray,  100. 
Loch  Katrine,  100-02. 
Loch  Lomond,  102. 
Lockhart,  grandnephew  of  Walter  Scott, 

265. 
Lombard,  Howard,  276. 
London,  first  visit  to,  1-62;  return  to, 

256;  revisited,  294-352. 
London  post-office,  efficiency  of,  60. 
London  Rowing  Club,  358. 
Londonderry,  Lord,  7. 
Lords,  the  House  of.  Lord  Coleridge's 

views  on,  311. 
Lords,  a  cricket  match  at,  338,  339. 
Lome,  Marquis  of,  105-19. 
Louise,  Prinross,  104-19. 
"Louisiana  Lowlands,"  281,  289. 
Lowell,  James  Russell,  106. 


Loyd,  Lewis,  350,  351. 
Loyd,  Mrs  ,  350,  351. 
Lushington,  Judge,  324,  325,  357. 
Lynmouth,  135-45. 
Lynton,  136. 
Lyttelton,  Alfred,  5. 
Lyttelton,  Lord,  268. 
Lyttelton,  Lady,  40. 

Macbeth,  site  of  his  castle,  95. 

Mackarness,  Alethea,  127. 

Mackarness,  John  Fielder,  Bishop  of 
Oxford,  127,  131. 

Mackarness,  the  Misses,  daughters  of 
the  Bishop  of  Oxford,  131. 

Mackintosh,  Mr.,  son  of  Sir  James,  8,  9. 

Mackintosh,  Mrs.  Robert,  5,  19. 

MacMahon,  Madame  General,  182. 

Magdalen  College,  270,  271. 

Mann,  James  Bradford,  290,  291. 

Marmier,  Xavier,  at  home,  154,  155, 
191;  on  the  street,  156,  195;  courtesies 
of,  to  Dana,  157,  164-68,  170,  181, 
184,  194,  195;  presents  his  books  to 
Dana,  159,  178,  195. 

Marseilles,  199,  200. 

Marsh,  George  P.,  American  Minister 

at  Rome,  239,  244-47. 
Marsh,  Mrs.  G.  P.,  243,  244. 
Marshall,  Professor  A.,  285. 
Mass,  at  St.  Roch,  170;  at  St.  Eustache, 

182. 
Mayne,  his  "Ancient  Law,"  44,  86. 
McMillan,  Mr.,  272. 
Mellor,  Francis  H.,  284,  286. 
Mentone,  201. 
Messina,  202. 
Milan,  Library  at,  74. 
Mildmay,  Archdeacon,  147,  149. 
Miliais,  Sir  John  E.,  44,  56. 
Milnes,  Richard  Monckton.  See  Hough- 
ton, Lord. 
Mitchell,  Cambridge  oarsman,  287. 
Mitrahenny,  229. 
Mohl,  Madame,  155-59,  195,  196. 
MoliJ,  Monsieur,  155,  156. 
Monaco,  201,  202. 
Moncur  Castle,  98. 
Mont  Blanc,  climbing,  354-56. 
Monte  Carlo,  201,  202. 
Montucci,  Monsieur,  169. 
Moody  and  Sankey,  views  on,  59. 
Morality,  of  different  nations,  163,  164. 
Moss,  Edward,  268,  271. 
Munich,  353. 
Mylne,  Bishop,  276,  277,  279. 

Naples,  237-39. 
Napoleon,  Prince,  172. 


376 


INDEX 


"Nasty,"  English  use  of,  20. 

Neapolitan  nobility,  the,  238. 

Neilson,  Miss,  307. 

Nile,  the,  223. 

Nobility,  English,  method  of  addressing, 
97;  lack  of  scientific  and  historical 
knowledge  among,  97,  98;  differing 
views  of,  362-64. 

North  Devonshire,  136-45. 

Northampton,  68. 

Northcote,  Sir  Stafford,  337. 

Ogilvy,  Angus,  94,  95. 

Ogilvy,  Mr.,  90,  96. 

Olga,  Queen  of  Greece,  215,  216. 

Opera  at  Paris,  160,  169,  194. 

Opera  Comique,  181. 

Orange,  199. 

Ottery  St.  Mary,  131. 

Owen,  Professor  Richard,  336. 

Oxford,  arrival  at,  257;  appearance  of 
students,  257;  river  barges,  258; 
rowing.  259-61,  272,  275;  the  Union, 
260-63;  glimpses  of  life  at,  263-80; 
the  Cowley  Fathers,  269,  270;  the 
Balliol  eight  wine,  280-82;  examina- 
tions, 282;  the  charm  of,  283. 

Paget,  Sir  Augustus,  239,  241,  242. 

Paget,  Lady,  241,  244,  246. 

Paintings,    at    Althorp    House,    81;    at 

Rossie  Priory,  89,  99. 
Palais  de  1' Industrie,  181. 
Palermo,  202. 
Palmer,   Sir    Roundell.    See   Lord   Sel- 

borne. 
Palmer,  Lady,  340. 
Palmer,  Professor,  of  Oxford,  274. 
Paris,  first  visit  to,  153-98;  second  visit 

to,  251-54. 
Paris  Salon,  254. 

Parker,  Charies  P.,  263,  269,  270. 
Parker,  Edmund  M.,  257,  271. 
Parker,  Henry  Tuke,  11. 
Parker,  Mrs.,  19. 
Parliament,    the    English,    debates    in, 

11-13,  17;  procedure  in,  14,  15,  32,  34, 

35;  a  violent  scene  in,  28-31. 
Parthia,  the,  26,  27. 
Peabody,  Francis,  284,  288. 
Peel,  Sir  Robert,  and  Disraeli,  61,  62. 
Pembroke  Lodge,  visits  to,  34,  37-40, 

49-56,  328,  336,  338,  357. 
Pen  works,  in  Birmingham,  68. 
Penrose,  J.  P.,  289. 

Peterboro,  cathedral,  82;  Bishop  of,  245. 
Perusse,  Vicomte  de,  173,  181,  192. 
Perusse,  Vicomtesse  de,  166,  173,  181, 

192,  197. 


Phillimore,  Sir  Robert,  19,  36,  326,  347; 
dinner  with,  2-4;  in  the  Strathclyde 
case,  321,  322. 

Physicians,  French  and  American,  173. 

Piper,  William  T.,  288. 

Playfair,  Lyon,  348. 

PlimsoU,  Mr.,  and  the  Merchants'  Ship- 
ping Bill,  28-30,  46-49,  88. 

Pollock,  Chief  Baron,  136,  314. 

Pollock,  Sir  Frederick,  48,  314. 

Pollock,  Sir  J.  Frederick,  35. 

Pollock,  Dr.  Julius,  138,  314. 

Pollock,  Mrs.  Julius,  142-44,  305. 

Pollock,  Sir  William  Frederick,  35, 36, 48. 

Pollock,  Lady,  35,  48,  56,  314. 

Pollock,  Mr.  and  Mrs.,  relatives  of  Sir 
Frederick,  136. 

Portland,  Lady,  320. 

Potsdam,  353. 

Praslin,  Due  de,  197. 

"Previous  question,"  the,  15. 

Price,  Bonamy,  340;  anecdote  about, 
343;  his  manner,  343,  344. 

Priory,  the,  at  Warwick,  64. 

Proust,  Monsieur,  singer,  182. 

Pyramids,  the,  226-29,  232-36. 

Quin,  Lady  Edith,  338. 
Quincy,  Dr.  Henry  P.,  11. 
Quintilian,  313,  314. 

Railroads,  English  and  American,  135. 
Rawlins,    Mr.,    barrister,    286,    300;    in 

Lincoln's  Inn  with,  6;  dinner  with,  13, 

14. 
Rawlins,  Mr.,  master  at  Eton,  303. 
Read,  General,  United  States  Minister 

to  Athens,  207,  209,  210. 
Read,  Mrs.,  209,  210,  220. 
Reform  Club,  the,  36,  328,  333. 
Reform  school  at  Dundee,  90,  91. 
Reichstag,  the,  353. 
Reszk6,  Madame  de,  169. 
Rhodes,  221. 

Rhone  Glacier,  the,  353,  354. 
Ribblesdale,  Lady,  54. 
Richmond  church,  53. 
Richmond  Park,  39. 
Rifle  contests  at  Wimbledon,  33. 
Robinson,  Douglas,  267,  273. 
Robsart,  Amy,  63,  65. 
Roman  law.  Lord  Young's  opinion  of, 

85,  86. 
Rome,  239-46. 
Romilly,  Lord,  337. 
Rosalie,  Monsieur,  180. 
Rossie  Priory,  Lord  Kinnaird's  seat,  88- 

96;  the  house,  98;  the  art  collectioQ 

at,  99. 


INDEX 


377 


Rouen,  255. 

Rowcliffe,  E.  L.,  145,  305;  Queen's 
Councilor,  138;  illness  of,  138,  139; 
a  week  end  with,  351,  352. 

Rowcliife,  Mrs.,  138,  139,  145,  305;  a 
drive  with,  306;  dinner  with,  324. 

Rowe,  Mrs.,  140. 

Rowing,  at  Oxford,  259-61,  272,  275; 
at  Cambridge,  288,  291. 

Royal  Art  Exhibition,  3,  56. 

Royal  Titles  Bill,  the,  299. 

Russell,  Lord  John,  career,  34,  39,  40, 
50 ;  his  manner,  34 ;  conversations  with, 
34;  his  views  on  men  and  things,  37, 
38,  54,  55;  anecdote  about  his  over- 
coat, 43;  on  William  IV,  51;  on  in- 
temperance in  London  society  in  his 
younger  days,  51,  52;  and  the  Trent 
Affair,  57,  58;  on  Walter  Scott,  338; 
final  visit  to.  357,  358. 

Russell,  Lady,  114;  at  Pembroke  Lodge, 
38-40,  54,  328,  329,  357;  on  the  names 
of  England  and  the  United  States, 
59;  and  Bryant,  337;  on  natural 
manners,  338. 

Russell,  Lady  Agatha,  38,  39,  50. 

Russell,  RoUo,  38,  49,  50. 

Russell,  William  Henry,  278. 

Rutson,  Albert,  300. 

Ryland  Public  Library,  Manchester, 
England,  74. 

St.  Cyr,  169. 

St.  Eustache,  mass  in,  182. 

St.  Philippe,  sermon  in,  192. 

St.  Roch,  mass  at,  170. 

Sakkarah,  228. 

Salmon  fishing,  110. 

Salomon,  French  singer,  169. 

Savile  Club,  the,  13,  14. 

Schenck,  General  C.  R.,  United  States 

Minister  to  England,  60. 
Sclopis,  Count,  247-49. 
"Scrutin  d'  arrondissement"  and  "scru- 

tin  de  liste,"  179,  186-91. 
Secession,  the  right  of,  45,  226. 
Selborne,   Lord,   19,  274;  his  title,   18; 

conversations  with,  50-53. 
Selborne,  Lady,  50. 
Senate,  the  French,  179. 
Shaftesbury,  Eari,  112,  113,  118,  119. 
Shakespeare,  William,  bust  of,  19;  and 

Ben  Jonson,  74,  75;  quoted,  367,  368. 
Shaw-Lefevre,  George  John  (Lord  Ev- 

ersley),  350,  351. 
Sherman,  John,  38. 
"Shipping  articles,"  29. 
Shipping  Bill,  the,   Mr.  Plimsoll  and, 

28-30. 


Shoe  pegs,  the  manufacture  of,  67. 

Sicily,  202,  203. 

Sid  River,  the,  129. 

Sidgwick,  Professor  Henry,  290. 

Sidmouth,  128. 

Silverknowe,  Lord  Young's  cottage,  85. 

Simeto,  the,  steamer,  202. 

Smalley,  George  W.,  19;  editorial  cor- 
respondent of  the  New  York  "Trib- 
une," 35;  conversation  with,  36;  on 
American  politics,  309;  dinner  with, 
334. 

Smalley,  Mrs.,  19. 

Smith,  Rev.  Samuel  F.,  26. 

Smyth,  Piazzi,  228. 

Soldiers'  boys'  school  at  Cairo,  225. 

Spencer,  Lord,  personal  appearance,  6, 
7;  his  career,  7;  courtesy  of,  10;  his 
dignity  and  tact,  33;  at  the  theatre, 
41;  visit  to  his  country  house,  Al- 
thorp  House,  69-81;  as  county  judge, 
72,  73;  and  Lady  Spencer,  79;  invites 
Dana  to  luncheon,  348. 

Spencer,  Lady,  attractiveness  of,  7,  8; 
at  lawn  tennis,  75;  and  her  boudoir, 
78,  79;  and  Lord  Spencer,  79; 
plays  at  "go  bang,"  79,  80;  death,  79. 

Spencer,  Herbert,  38. 

Spencer  House,  6,  8-10,  32,  43. 

Sphinx,  the,  234. 

Spiritualism,  344,  345. 

Stanley,  Dean,  314-16,  326,  327. 

Stanley,  Lady  Augusta,  326. 

Stanton,  General,  British  Consul-Gen- 
eral  at  Cairo,  224-26,  230-32. 

Steamships,  26. 

Stevenson,  Mr.  and  Mrs.,  232. 

Stone,  General  Charles  Pomeroy,  224. 

Stone,  Mrs.,  232. 

Story,  Edith,  175. 

Story,  Judge  Joseph,  175,  232. 

Story,  Julian,  271. 

Story,  Waldo,  264. 

Story,  William  Wetmore,  174-76. 

Story,  Mrs.  W.  W.,  174,  243. 

Strada,  Mademoiselle,  171. 

Strada,  Marquis,  171. 

Stratford-on-Avon,  64. 

Strathclyde  case,  the,  321-23. 

Stromboli,  237. 

Stuart,  Gertrude,  22. 

Stuart,  Mark  J.,  364. 

Stuart,  William,  English  Minister  to 
Greece,  207-10. 

Stuart,  Mrs.  William,  209,  210. 

Sturgis,  Russell,  306-09,  317. 

Suez  Canal,  purchase  of  shares  of,  231. 

Sullivan,  Rev.  Mr.,  headmaster  of  Win- 
chester School,  208. 


378 


INDEX 


Sultan  of  Turkey,  305,  306. 

Sunken  ships,  plan  for  raising,  116-18. 

Sunset,  a  Greek,  217,  218. 

Table  customs  in  England,  8,  9. 

Talbot,  Dr.  and  Mrs.,  20,  274,  275. 

Taormina,  202,  203. 

Taylorian  library  and  gallery,  the,  276. 

Teas,  five  o'clock  afternoon,  150. 

Tennant,  Laura,  6. 

Tennyson,  Alfred,  17. 

Tenterden,  Lord,  18,  42,  132,  306; 
visited  by  Dana,  136-45;  second 
marriage,  138 ;  his  views  of  the  death  of 
the  Sultan  of  Turkey,  305;  a  day  with, 
on  the  borders  of  the  Thames,  327, 
328;  secures  invitation  to  meet  Prince 
of  Wales,  336. 

Tenterden,  Lady,  136,  143,  145. 

Terry,  Ellen,  41. 

Terry,  Mrs.,  243. 

Theatre  Francais,  the,  the  acting  at, 
159,  177,  179. 

Theatre  of  Dionysus,  Athens,  205, 
206. 

Thebes,  the  Grecian,  203. 

Thompson,  Sir  Henry,  345,  348. 

Thornton,  Mr.,  288. 

Tichborne,  Sir  Roger  Charles,  the 
"claimant"  of  his  estate,  59. 

Tinn6,  J.  C.,  267,  349. 

Titus,  arch  of,  240. 

Trent  Affair,  the,  57-59,  132,  341. 

Tribout,  Mademoiselle,  169. 

Trollope,  Anthony,  46,  329. 

Trollope,  Miss,  241. 

Trossachs,  the,  100-02. 

Turin,  247-51. 

Turkey,  203. 

Turkish  atrocities,  358. 

University  reform,  268. 

"Valued"  policies,  29,  30. 

"  Vanguard,"  plan  for  raising,  116-18. 

Vatican  decrees,  23. 

Vaughan,  Dr.,  36. 

Venus  Fly  Trap,  the,  53. 

Versailles,  185. 

Vesuvius,  237. 

Victor  Emmanuel,  King  of  Italy,  321. 


Victoria,  Lady,  105. 

Victoria,  Queen,  at  the  Wimbledon  En- 
campment, 33;  autograph  letter  of, 
38;  and  the  German  language,  38; 
birthplace,  128;  influence  on  society, 
130;  title  Empress  of  India,  299. 

Vivisection,  320. 

Ward,  Mrs.  Humphry,  276,  362. 

Warwick,  63-65. 

Warwick  Castle,  63. 

Warwick,  Rev.  M.,  230. 

Washburne,  Elihu  Benjamin,  174,  335; 

United    States    Minister    to    France, 

153;  his  pronunciation  of  French,  153, 

154. 
Washington,    George,  37,  56;   and    the 

American  flag,  76,  77. 
Washington,  Treaty  of,  18,  132. 
Waterloo,  352. 
Welles's,  London  hall,  335. 
Wellington,  Duke  of,  128,  312. 
Westlake,  John,  20,  299. 
Westminster  Abbey,  10,  11,  48. 
Whalley,  Mr.,  12. 
White,  Henry,  366. 
Wigglesworth,  George,  354. 
Wilde,  Mr.  and  Mrs.,  143. 
William  IV.,  51. 

"William  Tell,"  the  opera,  169,  170. 
Williams,  Dr.  Charles  H.,  42. 
Wilson,  President,  334. 
Wilton,  Marie,  41. 
Wimbledon  Encampment,  32,  33. 
Winchester,  hospital  and  cathedral,  149, 

150. 
Winslow  case,  the,  346. 
"  Woodside,",  Lord  Tenterden's  cottage, 

136,  137. 
Wurts,    Mr.,    American    Secretary    of 

Legation  at  Rome,  241,  243. 
Wyndham,  Hugh,  158,  207,  208. 
Wyndham,  Mrs.  Hugh,  158,  164,  207, 

208. 

Yonge,  Charlotte,  "The  Heir  of  Red- 

cliffe,"  149. 
York,  cathedral,  82. 
Young,  Lord,  44,  46;  visited  by  Dana, 

84-87;   his   opinion   of    Roman   law, 

85.  88;  stories  of,  86,  87. 


CAMBRIDGE  .  MASSACHUSETTS 
U    .    S    .   A 


/i 


/^ 


U:!) 


THE  LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

Santa  Barbara 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW. 


Series  9482 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


AA    000  777  271 


